Making Extra Money

It can be difficult to take care of a household when unexpected expenses occur. Even expected expenses can be hard to juggle. A night out at a restaurant can quickly turn into a costly outing. If you make a bit of extra money, then you will feel free to go out and enjoy yourself without feeling guilty about spending extra money. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of creativity to make a bit of extra money. Here are some suggestions to stash away some cash.

Offer Services - If you have any special skills, then you can consider using those skills to make some extra spending money. Taking care of children in your home or providing tutoring to neighborhood children can help you bring in some extra cash. You can also consider other services, such as cleaning houses, doing chores, or offering handyman services. Sometimes a hobby can turn into a lucrative gig as well. If you love to garden, then consider offering landscaping maintenance as a service. If you are a dog lover, then you may be able to take care of dogs while their owners go on vacation.
 
Host a Yard Sale - Another way to earn money is to sell items that you no longer need. Clean out your closet and put together all of the items that you want to get rid of. You may be surprised to find how many items you have kept throughout the years. Selling these items can bring you more money than you might think. If your friends or neighbors have unwanted items, then you may be able to work together to have a larger sale.

Be Creative - You may feel that you do not have any skills or unwanted items, but you may just need to be more creative in your thinking. Families who have sold used wheelchair vans have been able to earn money quickly. Think about any larger items that you may have, such as unwanted furniture or vehicles, as well as smaller items. If you have any creative talents, such as creating crafts or wreaths, then you may be able to market those skills as well.

Once you have earned some extra money, then you should feel comfortable occasionally treating yourself to a special time with friends and family. Consider trying a new restaurant or visiting a local attraction. You can enjoy your outing without breaking your budget.

Top Benefits Of Using Full-Service Storage Solutions

Long gone are the days when you have to load up all of your belongings and transport them to your new home or to a storage facility yourself. These days, you have many storage options available at your disposal and one of them is storage pickup service Boston MA (the reputable company found at www.ondemandstorage.com). While there are many advantages to using storage solutions of all kinds, here are some of the top benefits of using a storage company that will pick up your stuff for you.

No Renting Trucks - It can be time consuming and expensive to have to rent a moving truck. Not many people enjoy having to load and unload the truck, and it can also be tricky to try and drive that huge truck in traffic. When you hire a storage service with pickup included, they will come to you, get your stuff, and transport it for you. There is no need to worry about renting or driving any moving trucks.

No Heavy Lifting - With storage solutions that offer pickup services, you don't have to worry about doing any heavy lifting. You have enough to deal with when you are moving or storing your belongings. Full-service storage companies will come to you, pack and load up all of your stuff, and then transport it to their storage facility until you need it again.

Return Items - When you use a traditional storage unit, you have to pack up your belongings and take them to the unit yourself. Additionally, when you want to remove your belongings, you have to go pack them up again and transport everything. When you use a full-service storage solutions company, they will not only pack and transport your belongings to the storage facility, they will also bring your stuff back to you when you are ready. There is no need to make the trip to the storage facility to pick up your stuff. The company will bring it to you wherever you need it.

Moving or trying to store your belongings doesn't have to be difficult anymore. Using full-service and on-demand storage services can take away a lot of the stress involved with moving. It couldn't be easier to get your belongings packed and stored away so that you can have extra time and energy to take care of other important things.

Leave all of the work to the professionals.

Camp Outreach

I spent last week at a summer camp. It's not your ordinary summer camp. Instead of swimming and hiking and canoeing, and whatever other activities you regularly find at a summer camp, the campers at Camp Outreach spend their days painting, cleaning up overgrown lots, replacing roofs, and all kinds of other projects in a neighborhood in downtown Indianapolis. And they love it! Some of these young people (and not so young people) have returned year after year after year.

This was my third year. The first year I helped out in the VBS for the neighborhood kids in the mornings and then worked on various projects in the afternoons. The last couple years I helped out with VBS in the mornings and then was responsible for feeding all our hard-working people dinner every night. There's a lot of planning, a lot of shopping, and a lot of work involved, but it's all worth it. And I certainly could not do it without lots of help.

If you're interested in seeing a bit about Camp and hearing from some of the young people who were involved this year, be sure to check out this video and discussion of Camp Outreach 2017.

Perhaps it's something you'd like to get involved in next year?

The Magic of the Bedtime Story

Many of us have fond memories of childhood and the bedtime stories that often ensued once we were cozily nestled underneath the covers. The magic that happened at bedtime was often our first introduction to literacy, and one of the defining moments that fueled our interest in the world and all the adventures yet to be had.

The Magic of Routine
One of the sweetest and most satisfying aspects of bedtime was knowing that there was always an interesting and exciting story to send us off into sleepy land. Although none of us really wanted to go to bed, we were always excited about the prospect of another bedtime story adventure that would be unveiled if we submitted to the necessity of bedtime. Bedtime was never put on a pedestal, but we knew that bedtime was the only ticket to the coveted bedtime story.

The Adventure
Bedtime stories were always fun because each one had an inherent adventure and dilemma tucked neatly into the story line. Would Jack ever make it back down the beanstalk without being caught? Would Little Red be spared from the Big Bad Wolf? Would Elizabeth ever find those regulation cornhole boards she secretly borrowed from her mom? We were all on the edge of our seats waiting to hear what the outcome would be as each character battled their nemesis for survival or some other hidden or obvious treasure. These stories taught the love of the unexpected and the need to embrace courage and face problems in order to overcome them.

Love from the Storyteller
Although the storyteller was not the obvious heroine or hero of bedtime, they were, in an unspoken way. They were the bearers of the stories. We learned to appreciate them just as much as the adventures they unfolded every night. We knew that it was love that fueled their desires to enrich our lives with the stories and adventures of others, both fiction and nonfiction. We loved them for loving us enough to tell the stories in such provocative and entertaining ways. Often, these people were our very own moms and dads, or grandmas and grandpas, and the love was often twofold because they did so much more for us than tell bedtime stories.

The telling of bedtime stories has been a well-known tradition for many years. Many children have looked forward to the telling of some exciting adventure or dilemma faced by a character in a bedtime story. This ritual has often been the first taste of literacy that a child experiences, and it is often one of the tools to help encourage bravery and problem-solving.