I did it again! I had this “brilliant” scheme to make money—not much, but some—and “this time” it was going to work! But I learned the hard way—finally—that the best way to make money is to do the best thing that I’m good at, and that’s writing.

I love to knit. It’s a relaxing hobby that brings me joy. Since I’ve been a knitter for years, I’ve tried many different projects and because of this, family and friends have been treated to many of my hand-knitted creations.

A few years ago, my favorite hand-knitted gifts for new moms and new grandmothers were cute little caps for the new arrivals. I made pumpkin caps, strawberry caps, blackberry caps, watermelons caps. I also make flower caps for spring and caps with Christmas and winter themes. I knitted and gave many caps.

I enjoyed making them and giving these caps. The receivers were thrilled with them, so much so that many suggested that I make them to sell. Although I knew better—I don’t like to turn a hobby into a business—I decided to do this. I even went as far as finding a children’s boutique willing to sell my caps. (It would pay me $20 for each cap it sold and it would retail it for double this price.) This sounded great to me and I began to plan how I was going to spend all the money I was going to make.

Continue reading "Rich, for Sure!" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Every once in a while I have a “brilliant” idea for a way of making extra money. This usually happens around the holidays or a few months before my annual kayaking trip with 15 friends. Extra money is good for both of these occasions. Over the years, however, my way of making extra money often becomes…well…a drudgery and, if truth be told, the extra money is hardly worth it. I’ve learned the hard way that it’s better to save all year long than to try to make a few extra bucks in some brilliant way.

My latest endeavor was to make mother-daughter felted purses. I made one set for my daughter and granddaughter and the purses are really cute. Friends and family members urged me to make more sets and to sell them. Wow! What a great idea for making extra holiday cash.

I took my set to a chi-chi children’s boutique in town to show the owner my creations. She loved the purses and said she’d be happy to make them available on consignment. She would sell them for $50 a set and take 25 percent. This sounded good. She wanted five sets by the following week. I could do this.

Continue reading "A Losing Proposition" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I have come to accept the fact that, now that I am a mom, I will never really get my shit together again. One of the most frequent examples of my untogetherness, and the one that's most entertaining to my colleagues, is my inability to select my home address when I shop online.

I have had a week’s worth of groceries delivered to my work address, and the Fresh Direct boxes are always dumped just outside my boss’s office door. Happily, my colleagues are fun people, who appreciate the opportunity to be smug. “Carrie, do you think that I could have a roll of toilet paper and a potato pancake?”

I keep my work address on file at Amazon and at my online grocer for office supplies and catering. So sometimes when I shop in a hurry, I click the wrong delivery address. This is precisely what happened a few weeks ago when I ordered a splendid, seven-foot, pre-lighted white Christmas tree.

Continue reading "The Tree and the Bicycle Rickshaw" »

Posted by Carrie Bickner-Zeldman at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

“You had better watch out for the younger women in the company, because they will eat you alive!”

This was the friendly advice my former boss gave me recently over a nice cup of tea. He was trying to rattle me, and he did to an extent, but he also gave me the answer to a question that has been troubling me for years: why do my female colleagues still want to pull up the ladder?

Continue reading "Pulling Up the Ladder" »

Posted by Carrie Bickner-Zeldman at 09:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)