The Challenge - Day 16

We're over halfway through. It's time to take stock of our progress.

I feel pretty good. Today I made $1! It was from a referral earned on the Amazon Associate program. I'm so excited. It's the first money I've made off the program so it gives me hope for my future plans.

I also built a fun store:
Jackhuahua owners seem excited to see their dogs in the Photo Gallery. Feel free to take a spin around the site to see the changes!

I'm trying to take one idea at a time to give them the proper attention and then as soon as I'm done move on to the next idea. I got another huge idea yesterday. Better go check on domain names for it!

The Invitation

We've all been in a room surrounded by people and somehow still felt lonely. Oriah Mountain Dreamer captured it beautifully in The Invitation. I read it often to keep things in perspective. Take a look!

The Challenge - Day 13

I've still been trying to get my ducks in a row since I have so many ideas. I need to find a way to keep track of everything I need to do in a way that will keep prompting me to do it. I made a list on legal paper. It went onto a second page. I don't think that's going to work.

The last few weeks haven't been as much about making a quick buck as they've been about saving. I've managed to cut out so many costs I'm running out of news ways to save. Here's what I've done.

-Work-out videos at home and jogging around the neighborhood to cut out gym costs (I also signed up for a free yoga class through our community college)

-Starbucks/Coffee Bean no more than one time per week

-Eating lunch at home rather than going out on work days

-Only going shopping when I've made a list

-Cleaning my house myself instead of hiring a maid

-Having my husband do the yard rather than hiring a gardener

Bottom line--I'm living below my means. Amazing how this puts me in the top 10% of wealth worldwide, isn't it? It doesn't take too much! I read an article that said it only takes $2,000 in the bank to reach that echelon of wealth.

However, I do believe there's something to be said for having a maid and a gardener as it does create jobs. I'm not sure where I stand on that.

NonOfficeJobs.com Challenge - Day 11

I guess Day 11 is where you start to wonder what the challenge you embarked on was really about because the goal seems insignificant to the process.

Jason and I have been getting really good ideas for projects we want to do. We can't execute them all in 30 days and we're not getting too bent out of shape about it. We're also actually trying to think of good ideas for each other while we go along. We're not great competitors. Don't expect this thing to end up like Chariots of Fire or anything.

I put up a new website yesterday, www.GoOnlineSantaMaria.com. I'm really excited about it. I also woke up the other morning and had THE IDEA for my first screenplay. It is just so exciting.

I think I'm going to post a ridiculous video on Sunday. I'm so sorry my camera doesn't have great video quality. I think I might be asking too much of it.

Butch Stewart - Owner of Sandals Resorts

When I've seen those ads for the Sandals and Beaches resorts on TV they've always seemed so cheesy I write them off as potential vacations. But I just ran across an article in Inc. magazine about the owner of them and I have to say, I may have judged too quickly.

Butch Stewart is a great story of building an empire through rational thinking and focused attention on the customer. Read the article - How I Did It.

The Challenge - Day 6

I made two more websites this weekend, even though my Internet has been down as of this morning because there was a massive fire that burnt down power and cable lines. No matter. There are no excuses in The NonOfficeJobs.com Challenge!

The first site I made was for a local non-profit group, the American GI Forum Education Foundation of Santa Maria. I'm really proud of this site. It's one of my favorite ones I've done.

I also updated my site Jackhuahua.com. I figure the more sites to promote my novels the better, right? And according to Google Analytics this site actually gets a decent number of hits! Must capitalize.

The Challenge - Day 4

Sometimes when I think about this challenge I think that I should be making money hand over fist for thirty days or else I'm failing. This puts failing in perspective. And anyway, we heard Gene Simmons saying just the other day that you can fail all you want. It doesn't matter.

In addition to this healthy acceptance of failure, I've gained an understanding for how to achieve success. It doesn't happen overnight. There are no Cinderellas. (Thank you, NCAA tourney.) And I should know, I made a speech about this at an event just a week ago. (Listen here.) Now I'm focusing more on building solid foundations for success. I'm hoping to build two more websites this weekend and improve the ones I have. And by Monday I'm aiming to have a spreadsheet that maps out agents I've queried and agents I need to query.

This doesn't mean I won't be taking in a boatload of bottles to the recycling center tomorrow. I have to have a little money coming in!

The Last Lecture

Gene Simmons on wealth

Gene Simmons was interviewed on the Mark and Brian radio program yesterday giving out absolute pearls, or, as he thinks of them, completely obvious pieces of information, about attaining and maintaining wealth.

Some of his major points:

-Don't get married in your 20s, boys.
-Live within your means.
-Put 25% of your income into an investment like a mutual funds that at least beats inflation.

Gene pointed out that if squirrels can put away nuts like crazy then there's no reason you can't put away a little money. Squirrels can't even speak English!

Just listen. You'll love it.

The NonOfficeJobs.com Challenge - Day 3

Jason and I agreed that we could have teams to help us be successful in this challenge. I guess it's a controversial $100 but my team got $100 outside of work yesterday and that's what counts, right? My husband bet on a golf game and beat the odds. So we're now at $105 for the Rachel team because my forgetful friend forgot to pay me for the book I sold him or else we'd be at $120.

Have you ever checked out the free stuff on Craigslist? Yesterday I found out that I could have had a dentist's chair and a potty seat if I'd been paying attention. AND this dilapidated camper that resides in someone's backyard. Missed opportunities...so sad. I won't let it happen again.

The Non-Office Jobs.com Challenge - Day 1

Rachel's husband Dustin explaining what Rachel will do to beat Jason in The Challenge where the two will have a month-long contest to see who can make more money outside their regular jobs. Want to help? See the list at NonOfficeJobs.com!

The Non-Office Jobs.com Challenge has begun!

It started today. So far Rachel has made $5. Not too promising. But it's a start! And this is money that she did not even know was coming to her. She placed third in a bracket pool for the NCAA tourney. Sweet!

She's now off to a website development meeting. Meanwhile check out her listing for tickets to the Poets & Pirates Tour featuring Leann Rimes and Kenny Chesney!