Friday, May 28, 2010

Life is an every day struggle

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball, other times you are Pedro Cerrano in Major League and you can't hit the curve ball. That's exactly how I feel sometimes with job opportunities. I apply and they say curve ball you are not XYZ we cannot hire you. Every job that I have ever had although it is few I have excelled and been well liked by everyone. So sometimes it is frustrating to receive a call or not receive a call and not receive a job that you would flourish in.

The great thing about this analogy is sooner or later you hit that curve ball it is just probability and statistics. The ball will hit the bat and I will do great in that job. So although it is a struggle I still feel like everyone has struggles they just work there way through them. If you want to be successful you have to and that's exactly what I want to be I just want to be I just want to be successful (song).

Business News

The NBA Draft is fast upon us and I own a great website for the potential #1 pick in the NBA. I have contacted his agent via email about possibly purchasing the website, I am thinking about having a friend who was an agent previously talk with them for sale of the website.

Lawn Mowing is going good. I have 2 properties on the books and unfortunately 2 properties that fell through, but through no fault of my own. One property her husband hired someone before she contacted me and the other property asked me to come on the same day he called me, which happened to be Mother's Day and a day I worked 7 hours, I went the next day and failed to talk with him again.

Fitness


Weight loss has been great and I have even been running 5 miles once a week, but my eating habits are not a great as when I first started. My major concerns are eating late and eating too much of the healthy food (I mean healthy food has calories too. I am still hoping to be under 240 by my birthday, something like 235 would be great, but I would accept just losing weight this week. I have noticed gains in strength and it would probably be even more if my shoulder didn't start to act up. So overall things are good I just need to stick with the program and make sure I workout everyday.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Weekly Update

I have been kinda stingy with my blog posts. Overall I have been doing great. I lost 14 pounds in one month, been hitting up the gym 3 times a week, running or riding my bike 2 or 3 times a week, and eating healthy. Sugarbusters works, it is a simple idea that I follow very closely. Basically only eat whole wheat carbs, eat lot of fruits and vegetables besides potatoes and corn, don't eat anything with added sugars, and lose weight. It has worked; the better I eat the more I lose weight.

My new struggle is eating too much of the good stuff.
I have to be careful and eat in moderation and measurements like I was when I first started. This week I have challenged myself to a weight loss of 6 pounds by my birthday, which is incredibly possible. I plan to workout a little more and start adding 2 workouts a day this week to really work off the weight. I did a 2 a day on Friday where I ran 5 miles and hours later I did my usual 8 to be Great workout routine, I was spent and feel it today, but I'm sure it will be worth it.

In the 2 a day workouts I plan to do my usual 8 to be Great, but then add some cardio or I would like to add either a group class or interval training where I do explosive jumps for 30 seconds, followed by jump rope for 30 seconds, push-ups for 30 sec, and 30 sec of abs. This would really get me sweating and a great workout.

Personal Finance Update


This month has been good with extra money so far, however I have 2 added bills for this month, one for insurance and one to renew the license on the Benzo de Lorenzo. This will cost an extra $160-$200 and the insurance will be reoccurring for 6 months at $110-150, which is the last thing I need for my budget. Also I have a cut of hours for the next 2 weeks, which will not hurt immediately, but will have effects as time moves forward. I am currently looking for other work or even full-time work. I would love to get a 40 hour a week job and then use my money from my part time job to help pay my credit card bills.

I am still working on downgrading from the Benzo to a more affordable vehicle. I have only listed the car on Craigslist and have not had any success. I have reduced the asking price and just recently added in my title Motivated Seller. Another expense that will be added will be my student loans starting again in June. I need to look into paying a smaller amount at this time so I can reduce my budget. The interest rate is so low on these loans that the less I can pay on these and the more on my higher rated credit cards the better.

These next couple of months as always I need to really keep track of my budget and do what I can to make it as I look for more more dollars in the bank account. I did a great job of paying extra on my credit cards, but this month I have done less due to the concern of upcoming months where I will need the extra money. I have some decisions to make but above all I need to keep the budget tight and look for other ways to bring in the dollars.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Small Business-Mowing Lawns

I have talked about many small part time business opportunities and I will hit on another one today.

Like any small business you would like to start part-time while you work your 40 hour a week job. This opportunity is no different. All you really need to start is a lawn mower, weed wacker, rake, gloves, and a vehicle to haul your equipment.

Now to start we needed all of these things for house anyways so I have them, besides my big purchase of the gloves that I used last week, best 2.97 I ever spent, thank you Wal-Mart.

Mowing lawns is not brain surgery
and anyone who tells you it is or wants you to buy this or that just to get started I would tend to disagree. I started out with the equipment I mentioned, fliers, craigslist, and some extra hours to put in.

The fliers while I put in some time to make them look nice has not got me an ounce of business. Craigslist on the other hand has provided me with a couple of opportunities that have made me money.

I'm not saying I'm making a lot of money but enough to make an extra payment on my credit card or student loan makes a big difference. The business I have received so far has been an initial clean-up of the property that was usually neglected and then the opportunity comes to be there on a regular basis. People who are renting out the place and just want the yard to be trimmed and looked neat is a perfect example of who my target market would be.

The biggest things I have learned so far is do whatever and whenever. If they ask you to just come once and they never want to use your service again, that's fine because usually they will end up calling you in the future anyways or referring a neighbor who needs your services. Another great example of this is I was out of town and someone called for a lawn I explained the circumstances and I would be in town shortly and I never heard from him again, loss of business.

Be reasonable with the people.
I usually take a look around and get an idea and what I would charge and then ask the customer what they think is fair. Usually it's the exact same price anyways and you make them feel like they made the decision or they are getting the best price possible.

Follow up promptly. This has been crucial with one customer as if I did not call him I believe the lawn would go back to the first day where it looked like an abandon lot.

Hopefully these ideas and little bits of information will get you started in the right direction in your own business. Don't be afraid and don't make any excuses start today.