The First Radish!

Finally, after weeks of work, the first radish popped up ready to be picked today.  Sure, it was the only thing in the garden that was ready, but one veggie is better than no veggies.

So here is my beloved radish!  It is fresh out of the garden in the picture.  It did not last too long, since now it is in my stomach.  I am a big fan of radishes.

Let's Go to the Park!

I happen to be fairly broke right now, but considering it is Friday, I have the day off, and it is wonderful weather outside, it seemed like I should do something.  My fiance and I decided to take our dog to the park.

No matter how poor I am, I have to remind myself sometimes that there are free activities that are just as fun as activities that cost money.  The park is one of those things.  Not only was our dog happy to get out and play, he got to meet some new people that thought he was adorable.  It was nice to walk around in 70 degree weather, too.  

This particular park is close to the water, so there was some nice scenery, adorable ducks, and a good breeze.  It was a good day.  I hope everyone can take the time to enjoy a nice adventure this coming weekend, even if you may have to work, which I will have to do for part of the weekend.  Life is short and it is good to appreciate it sometimes.

The Garden is Coming Along

There are days when I wonder if the garden will really pay off, but today, while working on getting some weeds out, I realized the garden is really coming along.  I am eager to see what happens next.

I am not sure if I want to plant a garden next year, but for this year, I am going to keep it going to see how the vegetables grow.  As far as I can tell, the hardest of the work is over.  Now is the time to sit back and wait to see how many veggies we can get out of it.  If it makes financial sense, perhaps a garden is worth the work next year.

Does Working in Retail Really Pay Off?

I am a big believer in getting a job, no matter what your circumstances are.  I know people that are not working and think many types of jobs are beneath them.  I am here to say that is not true.  No one is beneath any job.  Honest work makes you an honest person.

With that said, I do realize some jobs are not that appealing because of the pay rate.  If a person is on unemployment, I 100% understand why it is better most of the time to stay on unemployment rather than getting a low-paying job.  Unemployment does typically pay better.

Unfortunately, there are those of us that do not qualify for unemployment.  In this situation, I believe you should take a job... any job... to get by.  I don't care if the job is minimum wage.  You know what is worse than 7.25 an hour?  Nothing an hour!  Making no money is considerably worse than minimum wage.

Last year, when I was between jobs and temp jobs, I worked for 7.25 an hour.  It was pretty rough.  Now I am back to retail again, and making a little more than that an hour.  If I had full-time hours, it would not be so bad.  However, I do not.  Also, the problem with retail is that desire to spend some of your money on the products you are selling.  When you see your products each day and tell the customers how great they are, naturally you want to use your discount to buy them, too.  That is a major problem.

What I would recommend for anyone considering a retail job is:

Try to work at a place where you will be unlikely to buy the products all the time.  It really squeezes more money out of you, even if there is a discount.

Try to work at a job that pays an alright wage (if possible) and work retail part-time if you are mostly interested in shopping and getting the discount.  Retail work is perfect temp work around Christmas time,

If you must retail to make ends meet, try to work it full-time.  Part-time simply does not pay off.  If that is not possible, try to squeeze in two part-time jobs at once.

Also, take the location into consideration.  Are you going to spend a lot in gas or public transportation?  It may not be worth it.

Always pack a lunch when you can.  Chances are, all the restaurants in the area will be too expensive.

And most of all, good luck!

To Buy Cheap Toilet Paper or Not... That is the Question!

In my life, I am stuck making decisions for many things.  One of those decisions is toilet paper.  You see, I always spend money on the nicer stuff.  I mean, the toilet paper goes in a private area, so I want to make sure I get the best.  However, lately I have been experimenting with the cheaper stuff due to finances.  I find I do not like much of it.

I am a big believer in saving money whenever possible, but I do think you pay for quality when it comes to paper products.  I like to buy brand name toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissues.  My fiance believes there is no need for this.  Many store brands are just as good as name brands.  This has never been my experience, but we are giving it a try.

It turns out, White Cloud from Walmart is not bad.  It is not as good as some people claim it to be either.  It is just alright.  So if I have to deal with cheap toilet paper, I guess I can get it.  Sometimes I do feel it does not pay off to be cheap though.  I have yet to find quality low-budget paper towels.  If I have to use twice the amount, I don't find it to be a bargain.  Just saying.

Never leaving the house again... well, until tomorrow

In a new, fairly pathetic strategy to save money, I've decided I am simply not leaving my house today.  If I go to the store, I will buy something.  If I go to a restaurant, I will eat something.  So what is a girl to do?  Not leave the house!

Yes, I know that seems anti-social and, sure, I could buy just about anything I want online anyway, but it is just a better idea to stay home anyway.  I have to go to work tomorrow, so isn't that enough?

I have food, water, shelter... whatever I need right here.  So I am going to just stay home... and maybe work online and achieve stuff.

And yes, I realize this is probably the most boring blog post ever.  Perhaps that is why I stopped doing traditional blogging for so long.  Oh well, I will keep working at it.

Growing My Own Veggies This Summer

This summer, I have started on the super epic journey of growing my own vegetables.  Well, frankly, my fiance and I are doing this together.  Growing a garden is not really so much my thing, but being cheap is my thing.  We bought lots of seeds at the dollar store, some as cheap as 25 cents a pack.  Most of the seeds seem to be growing well in starter pots and they are almost ready to be planted in the yard.  This is where the real "fun" begins.

Don't get me wrong, I grew up in the suburbs, but my grandparents had a farm.  I am no stranger to farming.  However, I determined at a fairly young age it was not for me.  Having lived in the city for a long time, it is a culture shock now to live in a house in the suburbs.  Growing a garden seemed like a good idea since my fiance did it in the past, but this time, we probably got too ambitious.

Since the seeds were so cheap, we bought a lot at the dollar store and some at other stores.  Now we have a nice variety of seeds growing.  We also need to make the garden bigger.  We've begun the process, and I have found myself to be exceptionally whiny about it.  I know once everything is planted, it will be fine.  But next year, perhaps we will aim for a smaller garden.

This year, we are growing:

Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Peppers
Corn
Radishes
Watermelons
Pumpkins
Cilantro

I don't think we need to worry about the cilantro since it looks like a squirrel, or perhaps our dog, got a hold of it and it no longer exists.  I also think because we don't know what we are doing with the radishes, perhaps they are turning out so great.  But so far, everything else is good.  We are going to save so much money on vegetables this summer and perhaps not have to buy our own pumpkins in the fall.  Hooray.... I think!

I am back!

Yes, it has been nearly two years, but I am back in business at Blogger.  You may wonder where I have been.  Actually, since I doubt anyone is following me anymore, you probably have not wondered.  At any rate, I stopped writing blogs when they took up just too much of my time.

I was getting carried away trying to keep up with three blogs, writing for HubPages, writing for Wizzley, working on WebAnswers, creating eBooks, working on Mechanical Turk, making products on Zazzle... and working 40 or more hours a week at an office.  Yes, it is a great way to make money if you have time, but I decided to stop getting so carried away.  For my own sanity, I needed to take a break from some of the extra work I had been doing.

For now, I don't have a full-time job anymore, so I decided I have more time to devote to blogging.  I won't have three blogs anymore, but it does not mean I can't have one or two.  So I hope if anyone is still out there, you might want to read my blog.