It Is COLD Here in Siskiyou County CA!

Our top temp so far today looks to be about 40 degrees! It was only 17 on the way to work this morning. That is just, plain, down-right COLD! :)

I have been continuing to try and create my multiple streams of income. I have been writing a lot, blogging some ads, and writing some content/marketing type articles for pay as well.

Right now I am working on a 50 or so page eBook on the conversion of grains to ethanol and it's a bit dry of a topic for me... I'm ready to be done and I am no where near there yet... :)

Well, I guess I should get back to it...

What Can Seasoned Trade Lines Do For Me?

Seasoned Trade Lines.

Have you heard of Seasoned Trade Lines?

I recently saw information in the Wall Street Journal about
Seasoned Trade Lines.
and the fact that they can give you the information to raise your credit score up to two hundred points!

The price you pay for any loan interest is based on your credit score so if Seasoned Trade Lines.
can assist you in raising your score, then they essentially help you to borrow money at a cheaper interest rate - and that is frugal!

Happy To Report Good Things!

November is turning out to be a great month for us. I had thought, briefly, that I might loose my job. There was some big hush-hush crapola going on around here. But, then I was told that my boss was offered another position and is in negotiation. That mystery was solved and I came out the other end with my job intact. :)

November has been a great extra income month as I have been doing the blog ads for pay, landed a few contracts off of RAC, and eBay is kicking into high-gear for the holidays.

All in all it's been a great month. Now, about those car repairs...........

If You Have To Get a Payday Loan - Do It With Them

National Payday.

If you have come to that point and you really need a payday loan or cash advance National Payday is probably the best place to obtain one. National Payday is well known and reputable.

National Payday provides payday loans and cash advances both quickly and securely at competitive rates.



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Sometimes I Just Gotta Be Me

I can't help but think that every once and a while we all just gotta be ourselves for a day or two. No outside forces, no other opinions, peace and quiet. :)

A Frugal and Quality Suggestion for Diamond Shopping

While working for the charter school I was unfortunate enough to loose my wedding/aniversary band... Willie has it in his mind that since I am now working in a group of men that I need a replacement. :)

While roaming around the internet I found this great store called
Abazias. Abazias has wonderful quality jewelry and specializes in diamonds of all types and shapes.

Abazias allows you to build your own diamond wedding or engagement ring on their website. It's a pretty cool tool to play around with a get just the ring you want. Abazias sells wholesale diamonds, loose diamonds, discount diamonds, diamond engagement ring(s), and even cheaper diamonds.

Check them out if you are in the market for a ring this Christmas. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of my readers in the US I wanted to take a moment and say Happy Thanksgiving! I saw a great sign the other day that said; "This Thanksgiving don't only be thankful but also greatful." I think that's a pretty powerful thought.

This long weekend, while others are out shopping, I am doing a very frugal thing and working on a freelance writing project. I recently landed a project that pays really well but I have to write a long research paper on a pretty technical scientific process. So, I am doing the research and starting my outline this weekend. Wish me luck on this project, it may be a much needed step in my quest to be a writer full-time!

Donna's Life This Week

I think I need more Zoloft this week. Maybe it's hormonal or maybe it's just this crappy weather, but I just really hate my job this week. I would rather be just about anywhere but here...

As you can all tell I have been doing some blogging for cash on this blog. No biggie but the pay is a nice additional income stream. I've also found some interesting websites doing the projects. :)

I bought my frugal turkey yesterday along with all the other things that go with cooking a turkey meal. I'm really looking forward to having 4 days off from work! :)

What have you been up to? Leave me a comment...

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GPS Receiver?

Recently I was looking online for a new Bluetooth GPS receiver. I purchased the Holux GPSlim240 from a company called Practical Solutions. Practical Solutions sells all kinds of GPS, mapping, mobile navigation and other high-tech solutions at a really competitive price. They sell solutions for both personal and professional use. Practical Solutions has great customer service and even offers free shipping on international orders.

The Holux GPSlim240 I ordered is a fully integrated GPS receiver and uses Bluetooth technology to easily transmit to a PDA or a Bluetooth enabled notebook. If you do not have a PDA or Bluetooth enabled laptop you can also use a traditional wired connection with it.

The Holux GPSlim240 comes with a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery and uses a third-generation chipset designed by SiRF. This insures longer battery life because it uses much less power than a traditional GPS receiver. Also included from Practical Solutions is a car charger so that you are able to charge the receiver on the go if you need to. We all know there is nothing worse than getting to your destination and remembering you forgot to charge the battery. Now you can easily do it in the car!


The Holux GPSlim240 also comes with an GPS antenna and is able to track twenty satellites at a time. All you need to do is point the antenna to the sky and it will do the rest for you. The Holux GPSlim240 acquires and reacquires satellite signals every tenth of a second and updates the position data once each second.

The Holux GPSlim240 is designed to meet all of your GPS needs such as car navigation, mapping, surveying, and a myriad of agricultural and environmental applications.

I have found the most comfortable way to wear my new Holux GPSlim240 is across my chest. This allows me to use it and saves my hands for other tasks.

I have been very happy with both my new Holux GPSlim240 and with Practical Solutions where I purchased it from.

How's Your Cell Phone and Plan? Frugal?

I bought Willie and I cell phones about six months ago. With him going to dialysis 80 miles from home they were a necessity both for safety and convenience so that we can stay in touch.

The online site we used was horrible... It took like 6 months for our rebate to arrive... And their customer service was horrible.

I have been looking around the web trying to find another site to use for the next time we move our phones and service around. I stumbled upon a cool website. They are Cell-Phones-n-Plans.

Cell-Phones-n-Plans offers some great free camera phones and some if not all of the best cell phones on the market. I don't know about you but for me it's all about finding a good phone, a free phone is great and frugal, and good service to back it up!

Cell-Phones-n-Plans also offers some great prepaid cell phone plans which can be a great frugal option as well for those of us who don't use our cell phones like they are attached to our bodies. :)

Prepaid cell phones or pay-as-you go phones are great options to consider.

Wassup With Those Weird Posts?

Howdy Everyone!

If you happen to see some weird posts on my blog they are likely paid ones. Occasionally I get paid to post links or a review to a website. Can't turn down the cash because it's so easy and neat to get to see websites that I might not otherwise find. Should you see one of these please do me a favor and click on a link or two and checkout the product. :)

Student Loan Debt? Seen NextStudent?

I am very fortunate that when I went to college, it was back before the days of such easy to get student loan debt. I was accepted to, and would have attended NYU had I been able to borrow the money to do it. Best choice? Who knows, but I do know that if I had, then I likely would still have debt from college...

In my quest for finding all of you the best frugal options out there, I came across a site that I think might interest you. They are a company called NextStudent.

NextStudent offers both initial student loans as well as consolidation of existing loans. If you have loans out there it's always frugal and wise to check the current rates and see if you can consolidate to save yourself money.

NextStudent offers a huge variety of loans from Federal Stafford loans, PLUS loans, Graduate Plus Loans, and Private Loans.

My Second Blog Has Launched

I started a second blog called Donna Hentsch Photography. On this blog I will start putting all of my photographs. I'll place a link over on the sidebar if anyone wants to come check it out and drive some traffic to it. :)

Printer Ink - A Suggestion on Where To Get It Frugally!

I recently discovered a great place online to buy all of my printer ink and toner at frugal prices! The company is called Inkers.

Inkers offers high quality inkjet and toner cartridges for printers, copiers and fax machines and can easily save you 20-40% off the manufactuer's retail price on comperable items. They have a huge variety of products to meet your every printing need.

Inkers guararantee their products to meet or beat OEM specifications on the original brand or they will replace them at their cost, or refund your money, for a full year!

Inkers provides their products to government offices, the Armed Services, corporate offices, businesses and home home offices.

I have been very happy with their ink and hope you give them a try!

Do You Sell Your Work Online?

I have recently started another couple business ventures/income streams. I have started selling my photography on items on CafePress. Here's a link if anyone is interested:

www.cafepress.com/thefrugalplace

As another income stream I have been selling my writing on Associated Content. If you are interested in what I write about check it out:



Post a comment here and let me know what your income streams are!

It's Monday...

While a three day weekend is a great thing, the Monday that follows is just not so great. I was fast asleep this morning, having the usual "need to use the phone but it won't work right" dream, when the alarm clock sounded. Nothing like starting the day running from a dead sleep...

I got up and when I finally waddled into the kitchen I discovered that I have zero idea where I left my coffee cup last Thursday. Thankfully the school bus was actually a bit early and I was headed off to the local coffee shack for a mocha. Half way to work I saw something big and black in the middle of the road... Imagine my surprise at the sight of horses running along the road. Apparently someone's fence blew down in the 50 MPH winds we had last night and their 5 horses escaped. Thankfully I managed to wedge my car into an area where one of them was blocked in to a driveway while it's owner attempted, with love, to catch it - all the while screaming "I'm so selling your a@@, this is IT!" (We know what kind of morning she was having...)

Then I got my mocha and headed to the office. Is that jail or office? They seem so alike most of the time...

Anyway, that's been the excitement so far on my Monday. Hope yours is going well!

It's Almost The Three Day Weekend!

I've been waiting for a three day weekend for I don't know how long! Three days to sleep in, knit on the baby blanket I am making, and just some time to spend on the homefront. It's my favorite place to be!

On the work/income/frugal front I have had a couple nice things happen in the last week. I scored some great coupons and deals on grocery type items. This is the best time of year for that, IMHO.

I did some GREAT surveys which helped add more cash to our Christmas fund.

I also managed to start producing articles that Associated Content has been paying me for. I've got some free time, love to write and the two just became another income stream! :) I highly suggest anyone who wants to write for some spare change try associated!

That's about all the excitement for me for the day. I have a horrible chest cold and am ready to go snuggle up with my cat Nugget and watch some Oprah on the DVR. Gosh, I LOVE MY DVR!

What have you been up to?

I Got Published and Paid...

I just wanted to share my first PAID, published article.... :)

Check out my recently published content on AC:
Boer Goats Are a Wonderful Addition to Any Small Farm

What Do You Like For Lunch?

Once or twice a week I head on down to the local McD's for their chicken selects meal for lunch. I think it's a good deal, for about $5 I get chicken, fries and a soda.

It's a fun game to see how many selects I will have in the box. Some days it's only the 3 I ordered. One time it was 6! They barely fit in the box. :)

I never really liked the chicken nuggets from McDonalds but I really do like the white-meat selects. They do a good job on those.

Our local McDonalds in Yreka has some interesting weather this time of year. Right now the trees are all changing. Pretty soon it will be snowing there like it was in this photo that I took last year.

Well, gotta run and get those selects now because it's lunchtime and they are sounding good. :)

What Do I Want To Do When I Grow Up?

I’ve hated that question since I was a child. Still do, come to think of it. J I always wondered why other children growing up seemed to have an idea of who they were and what they wanted to do, while I has NO idea.

For a while I wanted to be a chemist. Right now I work in the IT field, but am still not sure, even at the age of 37, that it is my “calling” either… I would LOVE to work from home, write, sell things, craft, etc… but haven’t figured out how to both match my current income and benefits. Maybe at some point I will, and then I can stop working for The Man and work for ME. Something tells me that until we get healthcare reform in this country that isn’t going to happen anytime soon though.

I have a 12 year old and a 14 year old. When asked what they want to do when they grow up my 12 year old tells me he wants to move to LA and act. (I actually think he will and will probably do very well at it. But, I am biased…) My 14 year old just wants to be done with school and do something where he never has to go back to school and textbooks. I assume he will make a great carpenter or mechanic, but that’s just my guess.

I guess the biggest thing I hate about the question of what we want to be when we grow up is that my job so does not define who I am. I’ve always found it a bit ludicrous that our obituary lists what we did for a living. Why not list that we were a good person, did good things for others, etc… I mean who wants to be defined as John Smith who worked pumping out toilets for 40 years? Not exactly the last impression that I want to leave the earth with…

I do hope that someday I figure it out. Who knows if I will or not though.

Multiple Income Streams

I often wonder what other people do for income. One job, many jobs, no job but a business, born rich? Don't we all wish...! :)

I am a big believer in multiple income streams. The idea being that you have income from various places. Sometimes one venture may be making more money than others, and in the lean times another stream is there to make up some of the difference. For us a good example is eggs - good in the spring, not so good in the dead of winter. However, during winter is the holiday season which is great for eBay sales and other holiday ventures!

Our income comes from: My job, Willie's disability pay, eBay, eggs, my Usborne Children's Book Biz, MyPoints, forum boosting and all the online surveys and other things I find to do to make a few extra dollars.

This year's Christmas will be funded almost completely with surveys and MyPoints! How entirely cool is that?

I am saving up the egg money to make an extra house payment. Might take me a year or two but I love that idea... At $2 a dozen it's a lot of eggs.... :)

Willie's SSDI is pretty secure. It isn't going anywhere at least any time soon.

My day job is pretty secure though I wish I didn't have to leave home to do it!

EBay, when I work at it, does well. (Just getting that going again for the holidays. Here's a link if you wanna look:
http://search.ebay.com/_
W0QQsassZmountainshadowcreationsQQhtZ-1 )

My Usborne book biz is able to do Toys for Tots and I am contemplating whether or not to do this again. Last year I managed to raise about $500 in books for local kids. That was LOT of fun. Otherwise I let me website hang out there in cyberspace and get an occasional order. Here's the link if you wanna look - www.mtshastausborne.com

I have always heard about MyPoints and pretty much ignored it. I am SO sorry I did! They have some great deals and I have earned $50 in gift-cards for WalMart in just the last few months. I shop a lot at places like Overstock for gifts and it's great to be able to get some of that back. (If anyone wants a referal for MyPoints or anything else please e-mail me at thefrugalplace@yahoo.com. )

Online surveys can also be a great source of pocket-change. I managed to do $100 worth in a single week once, and no it wasn't that much time out of my week either! I do them when I have time and try to stick to the ones that are not "offering" me to subscribe to other things along the way.

Right now I have $120 in survey checks sitting in the "Christmas" envalope! If you have ever wanted to do surveys I found a GREAT site the other day. It's FREE and has 600 companies listed!!!! I have no connection to them but highly recomend it to everyone. They are at:
http://www.survey-platinum.com/db1.php

Something tells me that it will be a while before I am able to subscribe to all of them....... :)

Anyway, just wanted to make a couple suggestions. Post me a comment and let me know what you do for your "streams".