What's Your Side Hustle?

If we can resist the temptation of "babysitting" our jobs and resist that false "employee" mindset which wrongly assumes that all our eggs must be in our "one and only full time job" basket, we can have a LOT of fun and some good coin along the way.

So What am I talking about? These little things we can do outside of our working hours which can bring in extra money along the way.
Some ideas are:

1/ Become a pro at Scavenging and Reselling curbside "freebies". It never ceases to amaze me what folks set out on the curb to give away free for the taking just because they lack the time or motivation to sell or dispose of these items themselves. Sometimes folks wrongly assume that something is read for the landfill, when really all that is required to be able to re-sell it at a profit is a good cleaning and./or some minor repairs.
Note which stores in your town/city will pay you cash for good quality second hand and/or refurbished items.

2/ Are ya Crafty? Like to putter around in your wee work shop and make birdhouses? Or knit sweaters? or make homemade jam?
You'd be surprised how delighted folks are to pay top dollar for home made "local artisan" crafty items.
You can post them on free websites like Kijiji or Craigslist, or sniff out the best "popup" shops or              flea markets that may be willing to sell your items for you for a modest cut of the proceeds.
If you are working full time, you may not be able to spend time setting up tables to sell your home made goods at farmer's markets, etc....but you may be able to sell them through friends and/or neighbors that have noticed your beautiful home made crafts. Some folks display their home made wood crafts on their own front lawns to sell only in the summer months when they have time to chat up and serve local and/or touristy customers.

3/ Cutting grass. Some folks start doing this as a favor for a sick neighbor....but it eventually can turn into something that can bring in a nice bit of extra income, without you even having to leave your own neighborhood. Elderly residents are often greatly relieved to find a local person to take over that pesky duty of cutting the grass every week in the warmer seasons of the year.
Tip: use the homeowner's own lawn mower and they will be required to keep  it gassed up or plugged into their own electricity supply, thus eliminating the need for any start up costs for your side hustle altogether.

Well, that's all for now. You didn't think i was going to give away all my best ideas in one breath did ya ?

Peaceful productivity,
C.




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Woot Woot.. Gluten Free Has Gone MAINSTREAM

Perhaps some of you could already see the writing on the wall with regard to the gluten free movement.....but for those who were waiting all these years for the breakthrough, it was a very long long road.

But, alas, I am so glad to celebrate that now MANY major food distributors have added BIG BOLD gluten free products to their regular line up. Gluten free foods are almost as common as 2% milk  lol.

Shall I name some names? Cheerios! Becel Original Margarine! Hellman's Mayonnaise! Mirage Margarine.
To name just a few.

These are big names in the food business....and it was no small task for these companies to be able to print clearly on their food labels "Gluten free". It is a multi-million dollar venture to convert any high volume product into a "certified gluten free" product. Much is at stake....

I can only imagine what must have gone through the minds of the CEO's of these companies as they ventured into the new and uncharted territory called "Gluten Free".

Perhaps they were thinking:  " If we go "gluten free" will we lose our "regular "customers in favor of a much smaller and very niche market? If we go gluten free, will it be sustainable? How hard will it be to maintain a completely gluten free facility? Or is it just a fad that we just spent millions to cater to? How large should we write "gluten free" on the label? We want it to be noticeable, but not distract from the rest of the packaging..."

But these CEO's spent their dollars well and have earned my respect by biting the bullet and ponying up some mainstream products with a gluten free twist. Methinks that they began to understand that those who are trying their best to eat a gluten free diet are tired to eating "odd" and unknown food labelled products.
Gluten free people are us. We are normal. We eat fast food. We work, we live and we are busy. Trying to sniff out gluten free foods is our least favourite thing to do......so the mass food producers have responded by bring gluten free foods out of the closet. Thank you!

Ps. as a wee word of caution, please make sure that you do see the actual words "Gluten Free" printed on the label of the product before purchasing. Some of the above brands still carry many products that contain gluten and they may be located on the grocery store shelf right along beside your gluten free products. Therefore, just be sure to check the label......but I'm sure that you already are accustomed to doing that.....for years ")

Have a splendid gluten free day,
Peace,
Carla





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Does Your Soap Get Smushy?

Since I became a homemade "soaper" I've begun to notice soaps and their condition more closely.

Too much soap gets wasted and thrown away for ONE SIMPLE reason!
The reason is that people allow the soap they have just used to sit on wet counters or on a wet tub rim!

When homemade soaps ....and most commercial soaps too, sit in water too long, they absorb that water and get SMUSHY and useless...and the owners usually throw them out because they just don't know what to do.

So, as I love to putter around like a pioneer woman, I grabbed some scrap pieces of wood and  a couple plain rubber bands and Voila! I invented a rustic "soap saver" to rest my homemade soaps on after using.

Now, when I use my homemade soaps they dry up quickly after using and last MUCH MUCH LONGER!

Would you like to try to make your own "soap saver"?

All you need is:

1/ four pieces of scrap wood that are free of splinters and are close to the same size. If you can't find four pieces to make a square "soap saver" then just use two equal pieces and then another two matching longer pieces to make a rectangular shaped "soap saver".

2/Hammer the pieces together, but don't let the nail heads touch the bottom surface. You don't want the possibility of the metal nails to touch a wet counter top or tub rim and cause rust.

3/ Use some sand paper to sand down any rough edges that remain. You want your "soap saver" to be safe to touch even with wet hands.

3/ Take a couple of plain ole rubber bands, the kind that come from around the local newspaper that is delivered to your door and wrap them around the wooden frame. Criss cross the design until the grid is small enough that a bar of small soap won't fall through the holes made between the rubber bands.

That's it you're done!

D.I.Y. heaven :)

Peaceful productivity,
Carla.