My Homebased Business

 Truck Trail, the road to my house!

I have been working on my Bonanza booths this past week. Updating the listings I have there with new templates and making changes on my return policy, shipping policy and other information. I sold a few things recently on eBay and that was a big help to me as I needed some cash.

I never tire of living in the forest! 

The difference I see from Bonanza and eBay is that on Bonanza, I feel like I am in charge of my own store. On eBay I feel like I am walking on eggshells, and they are in charge of my auctions. I had an eBay store at one time and I liked it fine, but once my sales dried up, I could never get them back again. So I sell a few things there every now and then. It makes me appreciate my own websites so much more!

 Morning sunlight streaming in!

Bonanza though, is a nice change from the other places. I am going to try to buy things I need from other Bonanza sellers. If everyone did that, we would be generating sales for each other. I have had sales from other sellers, but most of my sales have come from Google searches.

 The end of the forest in sight.....

My other booth on Bonanza is where I sell our guitar strings. I will be updating there also. It doesn't hurt to try to get sales on many different sites.  Combined with my guitar strings sales on String Baby and Larry Gene Music, we should do well with them. Lupe Shop is my new site and is up and working. But I am working on the products and trying to specialize it more. It is nice to work from home on the computer, but it is still work. I work more hours than I would if I had a job. I don't mind though, in fact, I love it!

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
 

Organizing Your Life Is Part Of Being Frugal

Early morning at Peaceful Forest Homestead

I have been working on trying to get more organized for 2011. By my birthday, which is in June. I am selling off most of my books. I am going through my photographs and dividing them up for the younger generation in my family. Those I am labeling and making albums for each of them so they will have them later on. One part of organizing your home is that it also organizes your life. It makes it easier so you are on top of all things, say like bill paying, taxes, pets, appointments, birthdays, auto insurance renewal, etc. All those things that need some kind of care are routine. That's the way I like it.

My used books all are being sold on Bonanza. Also collectibles includes souvenirs. So all those mementos from past trips and excursions can be listed and sold. Yes! People buy them for some reason. When I had my eBay store I bought bags of junk mail from a thrift store and that sold like hot cakes! Of course, it was "vintage junk mail" and that made it popular. Unfortunately, my junk mail is not vintage.

Going through our clothing and getting rid of anything we haven't worn in the last year. I do have a back up supply of warm clothing and I definitely will be keeping that. Those are things that we rotate into our closet as we need it, just like the rotation of our food that is stocked up. Anything that takes up space I will be seriously eyeing as to whether we need to hold on to it or not. It is surprising what a box here and there amounts to in space being wasted in our house.

Fresh green onion all winter!

To change the subject a bit, I wanted to share a couple of ideas I have done lately. One is two onions that got hidden in my pantry started sprouting. So I have put them in a pot, no dirt, and let them grow. Now I am using the fresh green onion! This happened by accident but I am thinking of doing this every winter. I hunger for those fresh homegrown foods in the winter months.

Another frugal idea I came up with the other night was because I was frustrated by the way they make coffee cans now. I hated when the name brands of coffee went to that pull off foil piece attached to rim on the can. Then when the brand I purchase at Save-Alot, McDaniels, which is still a bargain at $4.99 a can did it too.....I was really frustrated then! Let me explain why it bothers me. When you get to the end of the can you can not pour out, or get that little bit that is left in the can. It is trapped by that stupid rim! Well, being at the last of the can the other night, I decided to take off the bottom of the can, and see how that would work. It would. So last night when I opened the new can, I opened it from the bottom and left the top as it was. Left the plastic top over the foil part in case it wouldn't work. But it did! Now there is no rim to trap the last grains of coffee when I finish this can. I used another plastic top to cover it. Works great and saves this very frugal coffee drinker that last bit of coffee in the can.

NOTE: Since I wrote this earlier today, it has been pointed out to me that the rim can be removed with a can opener. I tried and it worked. So I feel that was dumb thing for me not to have discovered myself! I spent months tolerating this coffee wasting can. 

Snow on the deck is Nikita's favorite place to lay!

Since everyone seems to be sharing their photos of snow on their decks I thought I would put mine up here too. That is our dog, Nikita's favorite place to lay down and roll in the snow. It does not matter how cold or how much snow there is. She goes out with her tail wagging! I read yesterday that 49 states had snow, all but FL! That meant even Hawaii had snow! Wow, that surprised me but maybe they have had snow before? I wouldn't know since I have never been there. Counting the days till spring....................counting today....66 days till the first day of spring. 

Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

Bonanza Sales Will Build My Little Red Pony's Box Stall!

Today is the start of the last week of 2010. I plan on making the best of it. Yesterday we had the anticipation of waiting for a blizzard that other areas of the northeast were getting. We got the wind and with the temperature of 10 degrees, I am sure the wind chill factor was in minus digits. But we survived it. I prayed all night that my horses were okay in it. Especially with Tawny standing out in the middle of the paddock by herself. And the other two must have been in the barn. She really needs her own stall. So I am working on raising the money for the wood to make the stall inside the barn. I am sure the other two will be VERY jealous.  But they are the ones keeping her out, which they didn't usually do until the last few months. Of course, it could be the bad ruts in the path that she doesn't want to walk in. Horses are VERY careful of their legs and feet and will do what is best for themselves on their own.

I am increasing my items in katlupe's Booth, which is where I sell used books and other items on Bonanza. Since I started working on it more, I see my traffic has indeed increased. All the proceeds from this booth, with the exception of the ones from the guitar strings, will go to the care of my horses. The wood won't cost much since I can get it from the sawmill. In NY you can't use rough cut wood on your house but you can use it on buildings for livestock. It is so funny about that law because rough cut is bigger and sturdier, not planed. But it is considered not safe enough for a house. What does that tell you about the people who made that law? Making you buy planed wood to make more money for the big lumber manufacturers is what I think. I love rough cut the best and use it when I can.

Anyway, I am going to use all the money I make from Bonanza to go toward building a box stall for Tawny. In the future, my husband will build a third one, but for the most part, Dark Shadow will not want to be separated from Georgie Girl. Even if she would be in the next stall, but she'd get used to it. I think we would only put them in stalls when there is a need for it. I like to give them free choice. When the paddock is wet though, if they were kept inside in their box stalls it would never develop ruts to begin with. So there would be no problem. Georgie kicks Dark Shadow and Tawny out when she gets her night hay in the barn. So regardless of the weather they have to leave. This way, they would be in their own nice, safe, dry box stall.

I have been having lots of fun making handpicked lists on Bonanza. I have made three if you would care to view them. One is called "Homesteading Journey" and is a list of homesteading tools. The next one is called "I Love Cats" and is cat items for sale all over Bonanza. I love that list it so cool! Check it out. The last one is called "Less Than A Dollar" and is all items that cost less than a dollar of course. But the shipping is extra so the total is not less than a dollar. Couldn't find any items that cheap that had no shipping. I will be making more of these lists because I had so much fun putting it together. You also get to see other sellers' items and stores while doing it. Gives me ideas.

Hope you all had a good holiday and are looking forward to the new year. I am. I have lots of plans for the upcoming year and can't wait for it to get started.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated 2020

Running Your Own Business From Home

Photo Source: Jon Sullivan

I have written on here before about my business of selling used books online at Bonanza. In my post, Selling On Bonanzle, I told you all about it. The last few weeks I have been busy accumulating more books to sell. I love books and more times than not, I look at the book as I am listing it and end up reading it. The other night I read a book all the way through because I could not stand to list it and have someone buy before I finished it. I pick up these books at used book stores, thrift shops, garage sales, freecycle,craigslist, anywhere I can find them.

You may not think it is worth the effort. But every little penny counts in this day and age. Bonanza was originally called Bonanzle and they changed their name recently. It takes some getting used to. After having basically sold mostly on eBay in the past years, this site is a welcome change. For one thing, the other sellers are helpful and are not rude to you if you ask a question. The discussion boards on eBay can get VERY nasty at times! Anyway, I am not writing this to compare the two sites or to convince you to sell on either one. I want to share my ideas to make a living from home.

I have listed many of my own books, deciding it is time to rid myself of too many books among other items. Many times I have held onto something out of sentimental value. They are just things. So onto my quest of living the good..........but, simple life! I am thinking about taking the guitar strings out of the Bonanza booth and opening a booth just for them. It would be easier. The nice thing about Bonanza is that you can do that. Doesn't cost you any more money!

Of course, this is mainly a side line for me. Selling guitar strings on my two main sites is really my business. I have had one of the sites up since 2002 selling my husband's music CD. On that site, Larry Gene Music, I also sell my eBooks, but the guitar strings are the main thing. I tried other things, but this is now my niche. I have another site that is only about guitar strings and that is String Baby. All these little ways to make money, add up to what is called, "many streams of income". I am sure you have heard that mentioned online before. That is the way you can work at home and not have all your eggs in one basket.

My sales have been slow, but I have started getting more. My bill at Bonanza is not killing me like it did at eBay and at Amazon. So I can list my books and let them sit until they sell. I will keep listing as I know, the more you list the more you sell. That is the the golden rule of selling online. So leave me a comment if you work from home. I am interested in home based businesses, and if you have many streams of income too. Many times you may not even know you are doing that. But if you are gaining income from more than one source, that is exactly what you are doing! Time to network together!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole unless otherwise stated.

Making A Home Based Business Work

Rain clouds passing through my world.

I have been busy working this week on adding items for sale to my Bonanza booth. Did you remember I was selling on Bonanzle? Here is the post I wrote about it, Selling On Bonanzle. Well, they have officially changed their name to Bonanza. Things are happening there and I can feel the excitement! The sales have been slow coming, but they are coming. I just had one last night for a book I had just listed. One thing I learned from selling in my eBay store, was that the more you list, the more sales you get. That is what got me motivated to start listing this week. The sky's the limit.........but you limit yourself if you don't do anything.

katlupe's booth

One of the first things you must do if you want to have a home based business is to set up your business right from the start. That means with all the proper business licenses, state and federal tax filings, business bank account, payment module for your website if you are selling online, business plan, marketing plan, business goals, business calendar and a proper place for your inventory. It can be mind boggling, but is all important to the operation, of even the smallest home based business.

Working from home enables me to spend the time through out the day working on the websites while I am also doing chores around our homestead. Today being a rainy day, means I probably won't be outside, so working in my kitchen a bit this morning. I take a break and sit at the computer, and then get back to whatever job I was doing online. It is nice to be able to work on two things at once. I like to have my evenings free to read aloud to my husband, something we do nightly.

Sometimes you need to take a look at how you can improve your financial state. See if there is some way you can add more income to your home. Selling off things you already own is a good way to get rid of your excess of years of accumulating. Or if you are talented in some area, like sewing, knitting, crocheting, wood work, art work, etc. then you can make your own items to sell. The actual web work is fun after you know what you are doing. You can take online courses for computers and web design, or take them at a local community college. Or as my husband did, teach yourself by buying computer books and work as you learn.

You can often work with your spouse as a partner and that makes it even more fun. I like looking for items to sell as that means we usually take a ride to an antique, book or thrift shops and go out to breakfast. That makes a nice day for us as a couple and also gets us away from home and the computer work for a day. I love listing the items on my sites and try to make them user friendly to my customers. It is work, but is working for yourself, not having someone else telling you what to do. And that makes a big difference! Is there something you are thinking of selling? Is there a homebased business inside of your head? It doesn't cost anything to list on Bonanza until you sell. It doesn't cost anything to open your booth there. And it is so easy to do. The sky is the limit! But don't limit yourself by not doing anything. 

Have a great week-end!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole