Fresh Squeezed Lemonade Recipe for a Hot Sunny Day

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lemon-lose-weightOn a hot sunny day there’s nothing like a fresh squeezed lemonade shakeup recipe to enjoy while outside basking in the sun. We’ve finally got our first warm sunny day with temperatures above 70 degrees and let me tell you right now it’s wonderful. We’re supposed to have this beautiful weather for the next week or so – so if this blog seems a little neglected that very well could be the reason why!

I’m not sure what it is about lemonade that makes it the perfect compliment to when we’re outside grilling on a charcoal grill and enjoying a little barbecue picnic. Fresh squeezed lemonade is also perfect for sitting out on the front porch or the back deck while working outside or watching the kids play on their swing set.

So, to celebrate this beautiful day, here’s my favorite fresh squeezed lemonade shake up recipe to make an entire gallon for you and friends and family to enjoy:

You Will Need:
A nice big pitcher
12 Lemons at room temperature
Cold water
2 cups sugar or sugar substitute (As much as I try to be sugar free completely lemonade does need a little sweetener added to it! You may want to use more or less depending on the tartness of the lemons and your own preferences)
Ice

Directions:

1. Juice the Lemons: There are a few ways to get the fresh squeezed juice out of the lemons. For the best results, the lemons should be at room temperature. (You can cook them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds which may also help. You will then also want to roll them on a table to help the fibers break apart and get the juice flowing. There are all types of lemon juicers available from motorized to the standard type of citrus juicers. You can usually get them pretty cheap – less than $1 if you get a secondhand one or $5-$6 for a plastic one at the store. You simply cut the lemons in half and then turn it over the juicer, which will collect the juice for you.

2. Mix juice and sugar: I’ve found I like to mix the juice and the sugar on their own. This is the part that makes me call it a “shakeup” recipe. If you cover the container and shake it really hard I’ve found that’s the best way to make sure the sugar and the lemon juice is mixed together the best. Just be careful not to spill all the lemon juice you worked so hard on squeezing!

3. Add Ice and Water: Once the lemon juice and sugar is mixed, you are ready to add the water. I usually use a 2 quart pitcher and so just fill it up to the top line with water. Then using a wooden spoon I stir it all together. I do not like ice cubes in my drinks, but I’ve learned that this is just some weird strange quirk unique to me. Most people like ice in their drinks, and so assuming that you are “normal” you would pour it over glasses of ice. You can then decide to garnish with fresh lemon wedges or slices.

So there you have it, a fresh squeezed lemonade recipe for a hot sunny day. Enjoy!

10 Family Fun Earth Day Activities

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Earth Day is April 22nd each year and there are many fun things the whole family can do to celebrate their planet together as well as focus on being more environmentally conscious and friendly. To kick it off this year, I’ve decided to create a list of 10 fun family earth day activities and projects you can do with your kids and friends.

A lot of people might believe that the whole concept of Earth Day is pretty silly, others may think every day should be earth day. However, realistically in a world of convenience foods and wrappers and electronics sometimes it can be difficult to practice being environmentally responsible 100% of the time. This is why Earth Day is such a great day to celebrate with your family – just one day of learning about better ways to take care of the earth or practicing different ways to be more eco-friendly can make a huge difference when millions of people are involved.

The ideas I’ve come up with here are completely simple and easy to do and only things I would actually do with my own family. You don’t have to have any special skills or knowledge. Most are also budget friendly and free to do. One of the big perks about being more environmentally conscious is that it can also save you money – since you are much more careful about buying things you don’t really need or throwing things away.

1. Plant Something
Kids are natural gardeners. I was amazed the first time my son and I tried planting tomatoes. He was three years old and I thought for sure he was going to crush or kill the plant. Instead, he gently lifted them out, “tickled the roots” as he likes to say, and helped me place the starters in larger pots.

You can plant just about anything. Seed packets are available in stores for less than $2 a package and you can get a small bag of potting soil for less than $5 if you don’t already have dirt to use at home. Anything can be a planter – old dishes, old shoes, even egg shells, so it can also be a lesson in reusing old items too. You can try your hand at flowers, herbs, vegetables, even grass seed. Teaching kids how plants grow will give them excitement to watch it as it sprouts and blooms. You can also talk to them about how plants help keep our air clean so we can breathe.

2. Eat Dirt
No, I don’t really suggest you and your kids go out to the backyard or a nearby park with a spoon and a fork. But dirt is another name for a fun treat that kids can eat either at school, as a snack, or after dinner treat can be a good old classic recipe of dirt. It’s made out of mostly crushed up Oreo cookies, pudding, whipped cream, and some gummy worms. To make it healthier, use skim milk, sugar free pudding, and the reduced fat cookies. You can find the official Nabisco Recipe Here.

3. Go Unplugged
We constantly have televisions, video games, computers, and lights on in our homes. For one day and one day only (and maybe even for just an hour or two) take some time and go unplugged with everything that requires electricity in your house. Not only will it will teach the kids that turning off lights and unplugging tvs will help the environment – but it could give you and the kids a chance to go play outside, read a book, and spend some other high quality time together with one another.

4. What Can I Do With This? Game
Most of us somewhere in our closets, basements, garages, and maybe all three have “junk”. There’s plenty of things we have that we don’t really need anymore or use and probably should just be tossed in the trash. While cleaning out junk doesn’t sound like any fun, it can be if you make a game out of it. Take whatever objects you’ve found that you think you should throw away and then have the whole family brainstorm for different things they can do with it. Maybe an ugly old sugar bowl can become a basketball hoop. Maybe that broken action figure can decorate the window blind handle. Be creative and see what you can come up with!

5. Decorate Your Own Reusable Grocery Bags
Getting into the habit of reusing cloth grocery bags isn’t difficult to do at all – and can make a big difference in landfills since those plastic bags can take up to 1000 years to biodegrade. You can make your own if you are crafty, but if not blank canvas totes are often sold in craft stores or can even be ordered online for less than $2 a bag! Decorate with permanent markers, iron on transfers, fabric paints and more. You’ll also be amazed at how much better they are for carrying things – you’ll never worry about one of those plastic bags breaking again!

6. Go For a Nature Walk
Walking outside in a park, the woods, or maybe even in the backyard can all be a fun way to spend time together and really marvel in how wonderful our planet really is. Look at the clouds, the trees, the flowers, the animals. You may even want to consider making a scavenger checklist of things for the kids to look for. (For example, a leaf, a pine cone, a bird, etc. etc.)

7. Make Your Own Paper
Each year tons of paper is thrown out or wasted. Chances are if your kids go to school they come home with countless worksheets and flyers. (Unless you’re lucky and they have a teacher who goes paperless!) The good news is you can turn this paper into fresh new sheets for your kids to use for craft projects and artwork. Instructables.com has a lot of videos and how-to’s. This project is a little more advanced and probably better for older kids, but can still be a great fun messy project to dig into together that is also good for the environment!

8. Take a Trip to the Museum:
Museums are a great place for kids to learn about the world and the environment. Learn about animals, stars, rocks, plants, and more. You can find a museum near you by visiting museum spot. Many will have activities for kids just for Earth Day and admission is usually very affordable. This one is perfect if your Earth Day is rainy or cold!

9. Watch Earth Day Movies:
After you’re hour of no power (or however long you decide to go unplugged in our suggestion above) you can always watch some movies together with your kids about the environment. One of my favorites is Over the Hedge, which is about animals who are at risk for losing their homes. (Don’t worry – it has a happy ending!)

10. Visit the Library
There are many books available about our environment at your local library. You can read stories, learn about anything from erosion to recycling, and get books about even more fun projects you can do together. Best of all? The library is free. Be sure to see if they have a copy of The Lorax, which is a great book by Dr. Seuss to read to kids about protecting our earth.

Now that you have all of these great ideas on some fun things you can do as a family together for Earth Day, you can help make a small little difference in keeping our world a safe, clean, and happy place to live! And hopefully you’ll agree with me that most of these ideas were pretty easy. (Okay, so maybe the paper making one will be tricky – but should be okay for older kids!) You can choose to do some of these all on April 22nd, or spread it out throughout the week and weekend as well.

If you have any ideas for family fun earth day activities and projects, I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

Strawberry Hemangioma on Infants

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Seeing a strawberry hemangioma on infants when you have a newborn baby can be alarming, but for many parents it is nothing for any major cause of concern. Sometimes also called a strawberry birthmark, they are actually very common. My daughter was born with one on her stomach right above her belly button, which made me interested in learning more about them. (Once the doctor wrote down and spell out the word “hemangioma” for me of course!) As she gets older we have already noticed it has started to fade away considerably, and expect it to be completely gone before she reaches her third or fourth birthday.

What is a Strawberry Hemangioma?
Basically a hemagioma is an abnormal cluster of blood vessels that collect in one spot that causes a red patch on the baby’s skin. They can appear just about anywhere – on the head, face, arms, stomach, legs, feet, etc. Most of them first show up within the first few days or weeks though it can be a few months and then progressively get a little larger for another few months. Typically by the time the baby reaches his or her first birthday the hemagioma will not get any larger and will actually start doing the reverse of fading away and shrinking.

The causes of this condition is relatively unknown still, though it is common. It is slightly more common in fair skinned girl infants and premature babies, though there seems to be no link to genetics or actions that the mother did during pregnancy.

What is the treatment?
For most infants, no treatment is necessary whatsoever. If the strawberry birthmark is in a place that it does not affect their normal development, the doctor will likely take a look at it when they have their periodic check-ups, but often will advise that no treatment is needed. There are a few cases however when a hemangioma must be treated, such as when it poses a threat to the baby growing and developing. For example, if the mark is extremely large in size it may be necessary to shrink it, especially if it is being scratched or risks becoming infected. Others that appear in places such as the ears, eyes, throat, or internally can be a cause for concern for both parents and doctors alike.

Fortunately, there are many different options available for treatment if it is believed to be necessary. Steroids, either taken orally or injected into the birthmark directly can often reduce the size and swelling without the need to surgically remove them. If this is unsuccessful, then laser surgery may be needed to remove or reduce the size of it. If your child needs treatment, speaking to your doctor will help you understand the best way to remove it as well as discuss the benefits and risks to the different ways to treat it.

Now you know everything you need to know about a strawberry hemangioma on infants! If you have a story to share about your kids, feel free to leave it in the comments below.

Free Handwriting Fonts for PreSchool

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If you like making things on the computer for your toddlers, you’ll love these free handwriting fonts for preschool aged children. You can make all kinds of different crafts with them, ranging from unique printables to signs for your home or even cut them out for large letters they can play with. They can also be great for your scrapbooking projects as well. All of the fonts are 100% free, you just need to follow the link to the site that has them to download.

To install the fonts on Windows Vista, all you need to do is download it, unzip the file, then right click on it and choose “Install” – your computer will guide you through the rest.

I have only included sites where I regularly download fonts myself, so I am pretty sure they are all spyware free, but please check just in case – I cannot take any responsibility for any damage you do to your computer when installing these fonts.

My Favorite Free Handwriting Fonts for Preschool:

Angelina is a light, fun style perfect for your preschool girl. You can learn more about it and download here.

Anmari is a fun, cartoon style handwriting font that has a bit of playfulness to it. You can download it here.

The name of this font may be Catholic School Girls, but you certainly don’t need to be Catholic or a school girl to appreciate the nice curved letters and how well this one could work for preschool applications as well! Available here.

Child’s play looks and feels exactly like the name sounds and is perfect for any early childhood learning printing project. You can learn more about it and download here.

Everyone knows that crayon is the writing utensil of choice for young children, preschoolers, and moms who can’t find a pen anywhere to save their life. This font wonderfully captures the look and feel of writing in crayon. Available Here.

Dad Hand goes to show that not just moms are involved. It also has the playful and lightweight handwritten style that might be great for your kid’s projects. Also, this fun font is easy to read. Get it Here.

Dear Teacher looks as if it has been written by someone who is just learning to write, which makes it great for just about any craft or project related to early learning. Download Here.

Pencil Pete is a great font that looks as if had been written with a pencil and would be fun in different colors and sizes. You can learn more about it and download here.

These are all great fonts for using for your school, scrapbooking, craft projects and will give you that pre-school handwriting look pretty easily and professionally. Be sure when downloading the fonts that you take special attention to the licensing and usage terms and conditions of each font – some may be restricted for personal or non commercial use only.

Do you have any favorite free handwriting fonts for preschool or know of any other good sources for getting free fonts? Share them in the comments below.

Starting a Scrapbook Business

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Starting a scrapbook business can be a unique business idea if you enjoy scrapbooking and would like to turn your hobby into a home based business and extra way to earn money.

Like all businesses, a scrapbooking business requires a little planning and learning to be successful, but it is not any more difficult than starting any other business.

Here are some things to consider before starting a scrapbook business:

What Services Will You Provide: There are many potential services you can offer in a scrap booking business. You can sell scrapbook supplies and host scrapbooking parties, you can create custom made scrapbooks for others to give as gifts, or you can teach others how to scrapbook. Think about what you would need as someone who scrapbooks, or what others have asked you for help with – those are all potential ideas for the services you can provide others with your own scrapbook business.

The Demand For Your Services: People may not know that they need your services, or there may be so many people that need your services that you will have no problem finding customers for your scrapbook business. Do some research both online and off on realistically how many customers you can expect.

How You Will Market Yourself: How will you spread the word that you have started a scrapbooking business? You can do this through a variety of ways, both online and off. Creating a website, networking with others, and even well researched advertisements can help you spread the word and market yourself and your services.

What Are Your Start Up Costs: Every new business has start up costs. You will need to calculate everything it will cost you to get started, including scrapbooking supplies, marketing materials, and any other expenses. Don’t forget you will also want to check with your local laws on starting a business to make sure you have done all of the necessary steps in starting your own home based business.

How Will You Sell Your Products and Services: You can sell your products and services online and off. You can sell products on sites such as eBay and others or create your own. To sell your products off line, you will need to decide how you will go about contacting and managing customers and orders.

All of these questions will help you create a business plan for your scrapbooking business. A business plan may seem like a pain, but it is essential in starting your home based business in an organized manner and making sure that it is the right decision for you before you incur any start up costs or invest time into it. Once you have done some careful planning and research, you may be ready for a step by step book such as this ebook you can purchase with a 30 day risk free trial here.

If you prefer a “real book”, Amazon has several that may be of interest to you:

The Scrapbooker’s Guide to Business: This guide gives you a variety of different scrapbooking business plans you can use to model your own, as well as many resources and different ways for promoting yourself. Read Reviews

Scrapbooking for Profit: Cashing in on Retail, Home-Based and Internet Opportunities: This book gives you a variety of different ideas and gives you all the information you need to know for starting your own home based business. It is slightly outdated, but covers the basics you need to know. Read all reviews.

Secrets of Scrapbooking Success : Making Money, Making Memories: This book gives you the information you need to know for starting a scrapbook business, as well as many real life stories from successful scrapbook business owners. Read Reviews…

There are many other books available that cover all the aspects to starting and running a scrapbook business – click here to see them all.

Know of any other resources for starting a scrapbook business? Share them in the comments below!

Becoming a Virtual Assistant

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Becoming a virtual assistant is a great stay at home work opportunity for moms or anyone else who wants to be able to run their own business from home. After including it in my list of WAHM jobs, I decided I would write a post dedicated to becoming a virtual assistant to help anyone interested in this home based business get started on the right foot.

There are several ways to go about becoming a virtual assistant, but probably the best way to make the most money is to work for yourself. There are a few companies that are already established that hire virtual assistants on a contractual basis, but if you don’t mind doing a little leg work you may find working for yourself is the most rewarding. There are basically three steps to becoming a virtual assistant – preparing your business and plan, marketing yourself and getting clients, and then naturally doing the virtual assistant work and follow up itself.

Before You Start Your Virtual Assistant Home Based Business
Before you get started, there are some things you will need to consider:

1. What services will you offer?: This is one of the most important things to decide on, since it is why people will hire you. Will you offer typing services? Database entry? Desktop publishing? Writing press releases? Proofreading? Scheduling and event coordination? Bookkeeping? Make sure that whatever services you offer you are qualified to do them well.

2. What Will You Charge?: Pricing is important, too – you want to make sure you charge enough that it is worth your time, but at the same time if you charge too much some business professionals may not hire you. Do research to see what other virtual assistants are charging and price competitively.

3. What Supplies Do You Need?: At the very least, you will need a computer and a telephone. You may also want to consider a fax machine or you can sign up to Get a MyFax Number which allows you to receive faxes by email.

4. Determine Your Target Market and How You Will Reach Them: Make a list of all the businesses or professionals who may need or use your service. You will also need to make a plan on how you will reach them, since if no one knows about you they won’t be able to hire you as a virtual assistant! Planning this before you actually start marketing can save a lot of time before becoming a virtual assistant!

5. Check Out Your State’s Requirements: Every country and state has different requirements for how to start a business. You may be okay to just work under your social security number and name without registering, but in some areas you may even need a license. You may also want to check into liability insurance. Make sure to check with your local business bureau to make sure you’ll be covered.

How to Get Clients as a Virtual Assistant
You need clients in order to have a business, here are some ways to help you find them:

1. Create a Website: A website is a 24/7 business card and commercial for your services. Remember that your website will represent you and your image as a virtual assistant, so the more professional it looks, the better.

2. List Your Services Online: There are many places online where you can list your services. Some are free, others are rather expensive (such as a Yellow Pages Ad). Hopefully by doing your target market you will know which ones would be suitable for attracting potential clients to you.

3. Join Professional Organizations: Your local chamber of commerce, networking groups near you (check out meetup.com for some that are free/low cost) and virtual assistant associations can help you spread the word about your business.

4. Advertise: Advertising can be hit or miss, but if you’ve researched your target market carefully you will have a good idea as to where the most effective places to advertise are. One place that is free to try that may bring you clients instantly is Craigslist. You can even use Craigslist ad creators to make your ad stand out and seem more professional.

5. Contact Your Target Market: Depending on who your target market is, you can often call or visit them to introduce yourself and your services. People do not really like being “sold to”, but if you have something of value to offer them that can save them time and maybe even make them more money, they will likely be interested. Small local businesses or local professionals may be a good place to start.

Once Your Business is Running
Once you’ve started your business, it is up to you to run it smoothly.

1. Produce Quality Results: The better quality results you have, the more satisfied clients you will have. Satisfied clients = future jobs and referrals.

2. Deliver Fantastic Customer Service: People love it when their calls are returned and work is completed quickly. The better customer service you have for your home based business, the more happier your clients will be and they will come back for more and more and depend on you.

3. Continue Marketing Until You Have Enough Repeat Business: Marketing isn’t something to stop once you have 1-2 clients. If you plan on making this a full-time business, you will have to continually have to market yourself until you have enough steady clients. Once you have enough clients that you start worrying about if you have too many, then you can begin thinking about hiring a second virtual assistant to help you or ease off on your marketing efforts.

4. Keep Records: You will need to keep records when it is time to file your taxes. Make sure you track all of your expenses as well as earnings you make so that when you go to file it is not a major nightmare. (It’s actually pretty easy if you’re organized!)

Becoming a virtual assistant takes a lot of effort to get started, but once you have steady clients and work you may find it to be very rewarding. Have any other tips on becoming a virtual assistant? Share them in the comments below.

WAHM Jobs: Work at Home Opportunities For Moms

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More and more moms today are finding many opportunities to work at home as a stay at home mom. There are many benefits to being a work at home mom – you don’t have to worry about dropping kids off at daycare (though sometimes you might still want to consider it!) or having to buy expensive clothes to wear to work.

Some ways to make money from home are good for pocket cash – others can eventually replace your full-time work income if you work hard enough at it. Below are some of our favorite ways for moms to earn some extra cash:

1. Become a Full-Time Writer: There are many places on the web where people can submit articles they write and get paid for it! My favorite is Associated Content, where I’ve published several articles. They pay upfront for well written articles as well as pay performance payments based on how many pageviews your articles get. I’ve managed to make a nice residual $60 a month so far from writing for them!

2. Join MyLot: MyLot was the first place I ever earned money online. It is a discussion forum where you can meet some great people, as well as learn about many other ways to make money online. The things I’ve learned from other MyLot members about earning money online as a stay at home mom has been worth more than the site has paid me! You can join MyLot Here and I will automatically become your first friend!

3. Start a Blog: Blogging is a great way to make money online, though it takes a lot of time and patience to start seeing results. Basically, you set up a blog, write outstanding content, get traffic to your site, and before long you can begin earning money through advertisements and affiliate programs.

4. Start an eBay Business: You can earn money on eBay by selling items, either things you don’t want/need from around your house, or you can partner with drop shippers who can hold and ship items for you. People sell all kinds of crazy things on eBay for insane amounts of money – and you can too! If you need some ideas on where to get started, this eBay Millionaire ebook has it all outlined step by step how you can make a full time income on eBay.

5. Make Crafts and Sell Them: Many crafty moms out there have found a fun way to earn money by making crafts and then selling them both online and offline. You can join sites such as Etsy.com and sell your stuff, or you can create your own website.

6. Virtual Assistant: There are many professionals out there who need someone who is good at typing or doing other administrative type of jobs from home. All you need is a few steady clients and computer knowledge to run a successful virtual assistant wahm job. Our article on becoming a virtual assistant has what you need to know to get started in this line of work.

Know of any other good WAHM jobs for moms who want to work from home? Share them in the comments below!

Finding Free and Inexpensive Maternity Clothes

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Spending a lot of money on maternity clothes seems pointless, since chances are you’ll only be wearing them for a few months. The good news is there are a ton of places and ways to find cheap and inexpensive maternity clothes – and you might even be able to find some for free!

Here are some places to check out for inexpensive maternity clothes:

Craigslist: Craigslist is a free online classified ads website that has plenty of people listing and selling things they aren’t using anymore. Craigslist Website.

Thrift Shops: Our local goodwill store often has brand new maternity clothes from Target for less than $5. Many other maternity clothes are available as well. You can also check out local yard sales, church flea markets, and others to find great bargains and discounts.

Freecycle: Freecycle is THE way to get anything for free. Join a local group near you and post your request after you find something out of your closet you no longer need and can offer to give away for free. There’s probably tons of people more than happy to give you maternity clothes to wear!

Ebay: You can also find a ton of cheap and inexpensive maternity clothes on eBay. You may even be able to find someone locally to save on shipping costs.

Organize a Swap With Friends: Do you have other friends with kids? Maybe they have maternity clothes you can trade with them or assuming you’re not both pregnant at the same time, you might be able to borrow their clothes until they may need them again.

If you’re looking for some other ways to save money on maternity clothes, here are a few more tips:

Invest in a few key pieces: You can often get away with wearing non-maternity style shirts, but pants are another story. You probably only really need 2-3 pairs of pants, and investing in a few pairs of jeans or khakis can be a good idea. You can always sell them later, or if you plan on getting pregnant again you’ll certainly get your use out of them!

Buy Clothes Only as You Need Them: No two pregnancies are alike, and you won’t really know how big your belly will get, or what will be comfortable for the weather to really purchase maternity clothes in advance. While it can be a hassle to have “nothing to wear!” for a few days or a week, you will save a lot more money and have less clothes sitting unused in your closet.

Buy Nursing Clothes: If you’re planning on nursing the baby once he or she is born, you’ll need clothes that are comfortable to nurse in. Many maternity shirts and bras also double as nursing shirts, which will help you save even more money as you go back to your pre-baby weight.

Consider a BellaBand: A BellaBand is basically a wrap that goes around your belly and your regular pants that don’t fit right to transform them instantly and temporarily into maternity clothes. For $24.95, you might find that it extends not only your maternity wardrobe but your savings as well! You can check out and learn more about the BellaBand here.

Have any other tips for finding inexpensive maternity clothes? Share them in the comments below!


FREE stuff for their coming baby

Money for Starting a Business

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When you’re thinking of starting a business, finding the money to start up can be a little daunting. We’ll take a look at some of the ways you can find money for starting a business – even when you may not have much in the ways of savings or additional income.

Before you start looking for money for starting a business, hopefully you’ve got your business plan already written up – a business plan will help you make sure you’re ready to start the business as well as help you determine exactly how much start-up money you will need. If you’re hoping to apply for a small business loan, a business plan in almost all cases will be absolutely necessary. Speaking to a professional about financial advice or reading up on business planning is also a good idea before you get started to help you understand your various money options.

Below Are Some Ways to Find Money For Starting a Business:

1. Friends and Family: Borrowing money from relatives or friends can lead to tricky situations, but it can also be one of the easiest ways to obtain money for your small business. Make sure you write a clear contract about repayment, what would happen if you default, and any other stipulations for borrowing the money – this will help eliminate potential pitfalls if you are unable to pay back your friends and family.

2. Personal Loans: Personal loans are somewhat easy to obtain if you have a good credit score, and many times you do not even need a reason for borrowing the money and can be approved in a few days. The pitfall is that they are often not for large amounts of money – most are under $2500. They are also unsecured loans, which means interest rates may be higher. However, for many businesses, that might just be enough.

3. Credit Cards: Credit cards are usually easy to apply for and get – though they can often have high interest rates, so are better to use if you do not need a lot of start-up capital. You’ll also want to make sure you’re careful about repaying it on time so to not damage your credit or rack up additional fees.

4. Home Equity Credit: If you own a home, you may be able to refinance or obtain a home equity loan of credit. This is another one to be careful with – if the business is not successful or you have problems repaying the loan, you may find yourself facing foreclosure.

5. Consider a Business Partner: Many people do not want a business partner, and choosing a business partner in itself can have many potential risks. If you know someone though who has similar motivation and ability to run or own a business however, joining forces can help you obtain more start up money for your business.

6. Save Money: If you’re able to wait a few months (or longer) to start your business, continuing your current job and saving as much as you can may be the best decision of all – that way you do not have to worry about repaying it all back. Check out this blog on easy ways to save money for some ideas to help you reach your goals.

7. Re-Examine How Much Money You Really Need: Many businesses can be started up for less than $500. An online business can often be done for less than this – for example 2 domains and hosting at 1and1.com starts at just $5 a month!

Do you have any suggestions for finding money for starting a business? Share it in the comments below!

I Want to Buy a Rock Tumbler

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If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, it’s “I want to buy a rock tumbler!”

A rock tumbler is a piece of equipment that takes stones and polishes them to look absolutely stunning for use in arts, crafts, decoration, and more. There are many things you can do with a rock tumbler. You can make things such as jewelry, decorative art, mosaic work, gifts, precious stones collections, and much more! It also has scientific educational value – kids can see the rocks transform from seemingly ugly and rough into beautiful smooth stones suitable for displaying and collecting. They can also learn their minerals through the use of rock tumbler and watch the transformation.

Rock Tumblers can range in prices from $35 to $500, depending on features and anticipated use. Below is the Discovery Exclusive Next Generation Rock Tumbler which is suitable for students and child use:

For specs and features, Click here to learn more.

More heavy duty rock tumblers include this Lortone QT12 Rock Tumbler

For more details click here to learn more.

You can also find a wide variety of rock tumblers and supplies for sale on sites such as ebay. Take a look at their most current listings below:

As you can see, there are many choices on deciding which rock tumblers to buy! The possibilities just seem so endless with a rock tumbler I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t say I want to buy a rock tumbler!