Money, Oil and Politics > Money... Money... Money...
SO... you need MONEY?
zorgon:
SO... you need MONEY?
Okay I have been trying to get time to write this thread for WEEKS now so instead what I will do is do it a post at a time and lock the thread till I am done :D
The solutions, tricks and ideas I will present are ones that I have used over the years that work, and tricks I have learned from those that have...
Now before I start a little about me and my current situation.
All my life I have been independent... never had a boss save for the few small jobs during high school and shortly after.
I learned one lesson early... that working for someone else will NEVER get you what you want, or make you rich.
Now you will say its not easy to start your own business... all the fees , permits, startup costs etc etc etc.
Well I will take this a few steps at a time and show you how it can be done.
Working for yourself doesn't mean you will be rolling in money, it simply means you are more in control of your situation. And have no one to blame but yourself if you fail :P
Some of what I show you will not work for everyone, but some tricks DO work for everyone, so bear with me and take the time to look at what I show you and try it before you say, "It doesn't work" :P
There are THREE main enemies to making money, and these are easily vanquished
1) PROCRASTINATION
2) FOCUS
3) LAZINESS
At various times in my life I have been guilty of all of the above. In fact my current situation has left me short of cash because I got lazy and procrastinated setting up my online store and didn't focus on that instead of spending 6 years posting on forums in my free time.
At the time I had a great gig, contractor to convention work that paid very well (32.50 per hour straight time and time and a half after 10 pm and weekends) It was union work and you could pick and chose your contracts and how much work you wanted or didn't want. Had great medical coverage
So I didn't worry about things, the money was good in the on season and UI covered those weeks when things were slow...
But I didn't count on getting medical issues that changed all that. I have stasis, a disease of the veins that stops blood returning from the legs... it has no cure currently. On top of that I picked up a skin bug after hernia surgery that they cannot identify and it is painful, unsightly and very distracting.
So the legs are at the point I cannot do that heavy work at the conventions anymore and had to retire. It just wouldn't be safe for me and others I work with if legs give out while on a ladder
Needless to say, once you leave that job, you lose the medical.
Then my wife lost her job and has only managed to find sporadic jobs of less than 20 hours a week. daughter is still at home taking college classes and has a part time job... that helps a bit.
But our monthly bills with mortgage and utilities run around 1800.00 not counting food etc.
So the current situation for us is bad... and then the car gave out :o
There is a pension from the union, but I was only doing that for 10 years so its not big. Will qualify for Canadian pension this year ( I maxed that out before moving to the US. and I can take the US pension early in 1 more year (when I hit 62) so I am not worried.
Now sure one could say I could sell the house and downsize... but why should I? I worked hard to get it and besides in the current market that would be a BAD idea as the current value is less than the mortgage... a situation many home owners are in today
So the savings are dwindling... its time to stop being lazy and procrastinating and focus on what I need to do.
Several members have donated to keep Pegasus alive... and that is much appreciated. I still need to fix it so we don't have issues anymore but there is no rush at the moment. As long as we keep the doors open, all things will eventually turn around
One thing is certain. The current situation with the economy has to change. It will either CRASH and BURN and a new system will be put in place, or they will have to fix the one we have.
So that said... let's look at the solutions. I am going to start with some small ones that may seem silly to some, but trust me... THEY WORK.
If you have NOTHING then even an extra $20.00 will be of use
Then I will post a few tips on fixing bad credit. Years ago we paid $1,000.00 for a course on just that (amongst other things) I will share those tricks and tips... and if you find the value in those and they help you with your mess, well Las Vegas has a tradition of tipping those that helped you get the winnings :D
Yeah okay that was shameless self promotion :P But then this IS about MAKING MONEY after all
Now I know many others will have other ideas... but I am going to be frank here..
SHUT UP AND LISTEN FIRST... it comes down to FOCUS... because f everyone is throwing out ideas no one is paying attention to anything and just adding to the noise. If after reading you have something useful to add, PM me and I will add it with credit
So... let's begin
zorgon:
SCRAP
If you have a house you can do this easily and for a substantial profit.
Collect scrap metal. Look around your area on garbage night. Don't be proud you need the cash. There is no dishonor in recycling.
So lets break it down....
PLASTIC BOTTLES:
In California there are kiosks in shopping centers where you can take plastic bottles and aluminum cans and put them in. You get a ticket that you can cash at the grocery store (or use to buy food)
Back in Canada there was a 10 cent deposit on beer bottles. The construction workers )mostly Italian) drank beer for lunch, put the bottles into the case for safety, and left them. I used to pay my gas and lunches just taking a minute to toss them in the back of the truck while doing my installations
Plastic bottles have a refund of 5 cents each. I see Mexicans here in Vegas pulling them out of recycle bins and take them to Ca. to turn in.
Most bottles show the states that have refunds. Its not a lot BUT it cleans the environment and gives you extra cash.
If you have space and time, then it can pay. We should make a lobby to have all states use a bottle refund. That would help stop the trash being tossed out the car window and allow others to collect it for a profit.
I personally let the County have all our plastic... but if you live in a state that pays that refund like Ca, you are throwing money away
ALUMINUM CANS
Aluminum cans are currently going for .55 cents a pound at the scrap yard. So is CLEAN ALUMINUM. When we had our Renaissance Guild running we used to ask friends and neighbors to save their cans... Scout groups do it as well. You would be amazed at how much that adds up in a short time for very little effort
It's FREE MONEY... no taxes
ALUMINUM CLEAN .55 cents a lb
This is aluminum without iron. So when people throw out old window frames. chairs, etc you collect them and take the time to remove the bolts. Aluminum is light but still adds up quickly. I have several bins at the side of the house where I toss the brass, cooper, wires and aluminun. When they are full I take them in. Takes very little time.
If your too lazy (#3 :P ) you can leave the iron in and get .35 cents a lb for 'Dirty Aluminum'
COPPER CLEAN $2.90 a pound
Ends of pipes, scraps of wire stripped of insulation, old plumbing, etc. Clean copper is very heavy and a cubing foot box of copper will net you around $200.00 or so at today's scrap value. Last time at the yard a guy had a small bucket of pipe ends and he got $89.00
"Dirty Copper' is copper that has a lot of solder in it so take the time to trim it. It pays. Also heavy wire is worth the time to strip the insulation
COPPER Insulated wire $1.10 per lb
Old cords, telephone wire, etc. that is too much bother to strip still has weight and value. At conventions we had to clean up after the events so all the computer wire etc we had to pick up anyway
More FREE MONEY
BRASS...$1.50-$1.80 per lb
Most plumbing parts, taps, faucets etc are brass. Old trinkets and vases etc all brass. Brass is also heavy. A small amount still pays
CAR BATTERIES
They contain lead... they fetch about $7.00 each
IRON
Until recently iron was relatively cheap so yu needed a lot to make any money, but today I see the Mexicans out every garbage night picking up any old iron. Bed frames, chairs old barbeques, what have you.
Iron does not need to be cleaned... you can leave the seats on chairs etc. They don't care. Guy across the street threw out some old fence sections. I loaded them on the truck, a small load, had a bit of copper and aluminum and came home with $186.50 cash
Iron is currently going at $180.00 a TON That means $9.00 for every 100 lbs. Iron is heavy... 100 lbs is not a lot. You need space and/or a trailer. When its full just run it up to the scrap dealer
One thing you will need to learn is how to identify metal. best tool is a magnet. If the magnet sticks, toss it in the iron pile... if not its worth money :D Stainless steel also has good value but most people don't see much of that
So start collecting that scrap. When I was doing alarm installation on construction sites I kept a bucket with me and picked up all the cuttings of electrical wire, low voltage wire and pipe parts. On occasion I was there when they trimmed the aluminum siding and had it on a trash pile
I made several thousand extra a year doing this... all tax free money
Today Mexicans are actually stealing wire and scrap... even pulling it out of lamp posts, because it has that much value
My vehicle being down right now puts a crimp into my scrounging but that is only temporary :D
zorgon:
RECYCLE (Other than Scrap)
On those trash days you will also find many people toss out stuff that is not metal. Old furniture, picture frames, an old kids swimming pool etc. Especially when people are MOVING
My dad loved to work on old furniture and restore it as a hobby. On Saturday my mom set up at Swap/Antique/Collectable meet and sold the stuff. Later I will give examples on just how much you can make with a little skill and a little knowledge. But for now they averaged $800.00 a week
When people move they toss out tons of stuff that they don't want to drag with them. Just yesterday a renter across the street moved out. He left a lot of scrap metal and some lumber. He also had boxes of dishes... Below is a picture of an antique silver tray with crystal inserts that was in that box..
He also tossed out a 10x10 easyup tent in its carry case and a kids swimming pool with air pump
So that's a couple hundred buck right there. Keeping the tent :D and listed the pool on Craigslist
An old lady around the corner from me is crippled and lives in a wheelchair. She and her sister do weekly yard sales. No one bothers her about that because she is making money to pay her bills only way she can.
People donate her stuff all the time. I buy stuff from her and can list it at Ebay and Etsy. Picked up a nice antique sofa from her that fits my Medieval/Victorian decor for $35.00. Someone tossed it out. Its a huge piece with printed velvet and wood framing comfortable as hell... just needed steam cleaning and a little touch up on the wood trim
So YARD SALES are a great way to make money. Its all FREE CASH and its easy to ask friends ans neigbours if they have stuff they don't want. Most people cannot be bothered with taking the time to make a sale... they just toss it or give it to charity orgs
A NOTE ON CHARITY ORGS
I helped out at a charity story.. Opportunity Village, here in Las Vegas. That outfit gave us much in return for our help in the way of fabric, costumes and period pieces for the Medieval group. In return we helped them raise MILLIONS
But there was a standing order at the stores that anything costume related came though me first. So that was one way we outfitted our group with NO MONEY. Nost of the things we needed where not what most people buy anyway..
But here is a point to ponder..
We had THREE 5 ton trucks picking up stuff DAILY from donors. We also had a huge industrial dumpster out back that we filled almost weekly on stuff that just was tossed ( I finally convinced them to make one dumpster for scrap metal... exercise equipment that never sold, old fridges and stoves etc) The dumster cost $900.00 a load to empty.
So the point is be picky about what you donate... not all can be sold and they get SO MUCH it has to be tossed eventually
I once ran a manger's sale on sofa's. Let yen go cheap. I was chastised for it at first... BUT the floor was full, the back room was full and the yard was full and there were more on the trucks. End result my sale was a record breaker manager special and we still had to many sofa's to display
So there is a LOT of stuff out there to be had for free that you can ask people for and resell. If your in an apartment, think small stuff that you can list on Craigslist, Etsy or Ebay
Yes it requires some effort :D That is why I have been away from the forum since the crash. I really need to get my web store up and running. I have listings at several places now, like Craigslist, Etsy Ebay and Amazon. Some items sell better at some places. There are more options, like auction houses and Ruby lane for example if you have better stuff. More on that later
I have always been a scrounger... or 'picker' I studied the antique and collectable books so I would know when something was worth something
Here is a vase I picked up cheap at a yard sale;
So stay tuned for more selling tips :D
zorgon:
BAD CREDIT
When we purchased our house in 2000, we still had many outstanding debts.. some business related, a car repo ( we had to dump it so had no way out but to let them repo) and the usual credit cards etc...
The company that did the mortgage for us did all the work... but here is what he did...
Debts, especially older ones, are a curious thing...
Once the ORIGINAL company that you owed has sold your debt to a collection agency, the debt as far as they are concerned is a write off. And you no longer owe that company. In fact if you then try to pay it you will find you cannot.
A judge once made a speech in a small claims courts before starting. He basically told the debtors that it is THEIR fault that they are her. Yes the debtee owes you that money, but you should have made sure he could pay you back before you gave it to him.. In one case the debtee said he could pay $100.00 a month... the judge looked at his papers and said, "No, you cannot handle that much... you will pay 25.00 a month... next case!"
One of our business depts leaving Canada was with Exxon... gas for the fleet of cars we had in the business. It was $3,500... We got a call from the company... a pleasant lady who asked if the business was still running. We said no. Before we said we could make arrangements she said okay thanks, I will just pass that along and we can write it off.
Seems big corporations NEED write offs :D
Once the debt has been sold off to a collection agency at a discount, the collection agency attempts to collect that money. What most people don't know is that you don't owe the collection agency a dime. They have no contract with you.
So when they call, just ignore them. IF you talk to them and admit you owe that money, you have then contracted with them. If you don't return that call they can do nothing but pester you, within certain hours.
What then happens is that agency at the end of the year will sell off uncollected accounts to another party, at a very reduced rate and THEY will now try.
So leave your machine on voice mail and screen your calls :D
Now then back to the mortgage...
The agent contacted all three credit reporting agencies. He demanded a list of debts.
Once we had that list he challenged them ALL. This is YOUR RIGHT...
once the challenge is issues, the credit agency has 60 days to verify you owe that money from the ORIGINAL source. If they cannot do this, BY LAW they have to remove it.
So in the end 75% of listed items on our report just VANISHED as those companies who had sold off that original debt no longer cared or even had records, so didn't respond to the challenge. Of the 25% that were left... ALL of them settled for 50% or less.
So when we signed that mortgage.. ALL old debt was cleared off.. at a total cost to us of about $2,500 which he added to the mortgage as we were tight on that down payment :D
THIS is one of the biggest secrets that THEY have that the average person never finds out about...
That once a debt has been written off, you are LEGALLY off the hook, even if ethically you know you owe it :D
In any case, once its passed to the collection agency you do NOT OWE THEM. If you want to pay to ease your conscience, then contact the original guy and see if they still want it. Most will tell you that they have no record of it (unless its ab active account of course)
zorgon:
BUILDING CREDIT
The following method is GUARANTEED... BUT it requires that you have two things;
1) a small steady income
2) power of will
We learned this secret also from that $1000 course we took. It involves CREDIT CARDS. This is PERFECTLY LEGAL and can be used to buy things like a house once you learn how to do it...
You can use literally a thousand cards for this, but to keep it simple for the average reader I am going to use 10. 10 is easily manageable and more than enough to fix credit.
The fellow who taught the course has a shoe box full of cards and uses them to buy foreclosed houses or tax sales. I will tell you how later but that is at the top of the scale.
Right now we want to fix your current credit...
what you need is $500.00 cash, a small steady income so you can afford about $80.00 a month payments and a strong will. If you don't have a strong will, you need a friend :D
here is how it works.
Take the 500 to Bank 1... deposit the money in a new account (find accounts that have no service charges Wells Fargo has one cheap on that is $5.00 a month as example.
When you have that money deposited you apply for a SECURED credit card. and use that 500 as security for the card. They will want to offer you a $750.00 line of credit for that $500.00
DO NOT TAKE IT so you are covered, tell them you only need 500 credit, so that you are covered by that cash. They will give it to you as they have nothing to lose. AND NEITHER DO YOU because if you default on payments it will all cancel each other out anyway (save the original 500) If your sure you can handle this by all means take the 750. Your not going to actually USE it now anyway.
At this point you have one secured card... so even if you only use this to GET a credit card, you are already ahead.
Now here is where it gets fun.
Take that card and go to an ATM machine and take out $500.00 cash advance :o ;D. Then put that card away in a safe, or give it to a friend so you CANNOT USE IT.
Take THAT $500.00 cash to BANK 2 and do the same thing again...
Do this with 10 banks. At the end of the day you will have;
1) Ten bank accounts with $500.00 each in the account ($5000.00)
2) Ten Credit cards each with a $500.00 limit ($5000.00)
Now then yes its only digital money at this point BUT next application you fill out you use those ten as credit reference. The banks are legally NOT allowed to give amounts or that your line of credit is maxed out... they can only says Yes you have that credit and yes you are in good standing (current)
Here is where the small income is important. You need to pay that small minimum payment on each of those ten cards. On $500.00 that minimum payment is small. If you can, see that you put a little more in than minimum with the goal that in ONE YEAR those ten cards are paid off
DO NOT USE THEM until that year is up. This is important. This is where the strong will or that friend come in handy. You can even cut up the cards (you can always replace them later)
So at the end of that year you will have that $5000.00 cash in those accounts. You will also find that after a year of on time payments on those cards, they will after 12 months become UNSECURED and the credit limit will double So you will have 'forced savings' of 5000.00 and a credit line of $10,000 after just one year
So how does this work at the top?
Well the guy who taught this takes his shoe box to ATM machines... takes out $500.00 from each card (60 cards and he has $30,000 cash) then he buys a piece of real estate that he knows he can resell quickly (usually a tax sale or a bank foreclosure.
Real estate laws are such that you can put an offer on a property and thus lock it in for up to 90 days without actually paying for it. If you sell it in that time you never actually touch your money at all. But he buys the deals, then resells them for a relatively SMALL profit to move it fast and pays off the cards
Everyone is happy, the banks, the credit card companies and the guy doing it. If he uses that cash to buy a property from someone in trouble, that person walks away with some cash rather than losing his shirt and everyone is happy
This is called
USING OTHER PEOPLES MONEY
You are using the banks money to build YOUR credit within their own rules... nothing illegal or unethical. It only requires patience a small INITIAL start up cost and a strong will
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