I mentioned yesterday that we will be starting a catering business. When the opportunity presented itself, John suggested that I see if I could find a building. Craigslist does it again!
I found a great deal on a building that just had to be moved. The building is an older Morgan brand, 20 ft x 20 ft and comes apart into two pieces. After calling around for prices to have it moved, we decided to do it ourselves!
The first step of this process was to take it apart. John and the children spent all day Friday working on it. In late afternoon, the building was in two pieces and John started jacking it up. Everything went fine on the first side but the second side was another story. The ground was soft from a recent rain and not too stable. So as the house was jacked up, the supports tipped and down it went. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the building was also fine. John figured that the mover cost less than an emergency room bill so we decided pay the mover. We already had the permits, he was available and the time was set for Saturday (Nov. 13) at 10:00 am.
Straps were placed under the half of building to be moved and a crane lifted it up, over the backyard fence. There was an alley behind the fence where the trailer was parked.
The mover had a “dump bed” trailer – the bed could be lifted up and whatever is on the bed can be slid or dumped off. The first side was loaded onto the mover’s dump bed trailer.
Since our move was set up on such short notice and the mover’s second large trailer was at another job, the second side was loaded onto our trailer (actually borrowed from a friend) and pulled by our 15 passenger van.
John had already prepared a place for the building about 50 feet from our house. So, once we traveled the ~50 miles, the back side of the building was simply pulled into place.
The side on the mover’s trailer was pulled up next to the first side as evenly as possible.
He then began to raise the bed of his trailer tipping the building.
As he slowly tipped the trailer, his partner drove forward sliding the building off.
The next process was to get the two halves as even as possible. On his trailer was a wench which he attached a chain to. The chain was wrapped around the base of the front side and used to pull it until the sides were even.
John then used a tractor to push the buildings together.
After the two sides are bolted back together, the building will be leveled and painted.
In “Creative Income“, I described how our family’s frugal adventure included two paper routes to help meet living expenses. It has been 11 months now, 7 days a week, of rising at 4:30am to faithfully deliver the newspapers to our little town. My husband and oldest daughter were the primary carriers but the younger children were included on Sundays to insert the additional advertisements.
Having been a chemist in his former life, John made the routes a science. He experimented with different routes to maximize efficiency and cut time. Once it was made as efficient as possible, they began sleeping an extra hour. Waking at 4:30am instead of 3:30am helped tremendously.
Since the Lord has provided our living expenses for next year through the grape harvest, there will be no more paper route. Yesterday, Oct. 31 was the last day – yeah!
While the younger children, who love to go on Sunday are a bit sad, the rest of the family is rejoicing! I realize, I will no longer be getting the coupon inserts from the Sunday’s paper, but I will have a rested husband.
So, what did we do to celebrate? We made homemade doughnuts. And, we ate doughnuts! We also drank fresh milk to make them even more nutritious.
One big lesson our whole family has learned from the paper route is to appreciate people. It is so easy to take people for granted, especially when they provide services that keep them behind the scenes. Don’t forget to show your appreciation to your paper carrier, mailman, UPS man, trash man …. anyone who serves you. Sure, they get a paycheck. But, it may be less than you think. Either way, a demonstration of appreciation – a tip – goes a long way to encourage and uplift others. It also gives you the opportunity to show gratefulness.
I have posted about Swagbucks before, how quickly they accumulate and all the wonderful purchases that can be made with them in the Swag Store. But, all this week, they are having a Back to School promotion to take away the blues!
If you are not familiar with Swagbucks it is a search engine which randomly awards Swag Bucks as you search. You get “paid” to do what you normally do! The bucks are then automatically deposited into your Swagbucks account to be redeemed for prizes. My personal favorite is the $5 amazon.com giftcard for 450 Swag Bucks. This may sound like a lot, but they add up quickly. I have bought a 17″ cast iron skillet ($68) and have an automatic delivery schedule for gluten flour set up (both through amazon) and I have paid nothing out of pocket!
This week’s promotion includes:
- Five one-of-a-kind Back-To-School themed Swag Buck bills in varying amounts – collect them all throughout the week and you’ll earn yourself a 50 Swag Buck bonus!
- Sales on all School Supplies and Cookie’s Kids items in the Swag Store
- Some special Facebook/Twitter specific promos
- Thursday they are having a Swag Code Extravaganza, a day in which there will be no less than 5 Swag Codes!
Sign Up Bonus! If you have not yet signed up for Swagbucks, enter the code BackToSchool while signing up and receive an extra 40 Swag Bucks (in addition to the normal 30) when you sign up, giving a grand total of 70 out of the gate. This code is valid until 11:59pm PDT on Sunday, August 15.
If you are already signed up – get to searching!
Hurry and join in as Swagbucks kicks off their Summer of Swag this week. They are awarding “Big” bucks this week with each day featuring a different denomination.
Today, the 31 SB bill which will be awarded to every 7th search winner – and I just won it!
Come on, sign up if you haven’t already and use the code: SUMMEROFSWAG for 20 bonus bucks to get your account off to a great start! This code is good through midnight on June 11, 2010
If you have already signed up – get to searching!
Don’t forget – this week Swagbucks is kicking off the “Summer of Swag”! Yesterday, they gave out more than 5 different swagcodes! But, it is not too late to join the fun!
A different bill will be highlighted every day this week at Swagbucks! As an added bonus, the featured bill will be awarded to every 7th win on Swagbucks! Yesterday it was the 25 Swag Buck bill!
For even more incentive to sign up, go to Swagbucks and use the code SUMMEROFSWAG when signing up and receive an extra 20 Swag Bucks to get your account off with a bang! The code is good until the midnight on Friday, June 11th.
If you are not familar with Swagbucks, it is a search engine that randomly awards you to search the internet as you normally do. These Swagbucks can then be redeemed at the Swagstore for merchandise from electronics, t-shirts, gift cards and much more.
If you have not signed up already, now is a great time to join the fun!
Swagbucks is kicking off the “Summer of Swag” starting this coming Monday, June 7 with at least 5 different swagcodes! That’s right – throughout the day, all day Monday, at least 5 swagcodes will be given out! Those are swagbucks in addition to the ones you could win doing your normal internet searches!
In fact, all next week is going to be a special week at Swagbucks. In addition to going code crazy on Monday, a different bill will be highlighted every day – BIG bills, too. As an added bonus, every day the featured bill will be awarded to every 7th win on Swagbucks! On Monday, that bill will be the 25 Swag Buck bill!
For even more incentive to sign up, you go to Swagbucks and use the code SUMMEROFSWAG when signing up for an extra 20 Swag Bucks to get your account off with a bang! The code is good until the midnight on Friday, June 11th.
If you are not familar with Swagbucks, it is a search engine that randomly awards you to search the internet as you normally do. These Swagbucks can then be redeemed at the Swagstore for merchandise from electronics, t-shirts, gift cards and much more.
If you have not signed up already, now is a great time to join the fun!
SEO = Search Engine Optimization. If you are a blogger, then you have probably at one time or another wondered, investigated or worried over the best way to have your written content at its best. I am speaking in terms of how it is viewed by the search engines.
Scribe SEO accomplishes this with great ease! Now, without worry or long hours, you can tweak your content effortlessly.
Scribe Web allows you to optimize content no matter what the eventual publishing platform. The Scribe version for WordPress is a plugin and works with WordPress if you’re able to fill in a custom title tag and meta description for the post or page. Scribe SEO was originally developed for the Thesis Theme for WordPress but also works with the free All in One SEO plugin, the Hybrid theme, and the Headway theme. I have the All in One SEO plugin here at Dimes2Vines.
 When you try the FREE introductory offer, you are given an API key which is then plugged in and allows you to utilize the service right from your WordPress interface. You are given step-by-step instructions on how to install and activate it – it really is simple!
Here is what Scribe SEO does:
- Analyzes what you’ve already written.
- Tells you what search engines will think you’re writing about.
- Tells you what changes to make to better reflect the language searchers are using.
- Helps you tweak remaining content elements based on SEO best practices.
So, after I write a post and fill in the Meta Description and Title Tag, I hit the analyze button. Scribe analyzes what I have written and gives me an SEO score. I then check my keyword analysis to see how my keywords match what people are looking for. If I have not done well, I check Scribe’s suggestions on how to refocus primary keywords. Since Google takes into account not only the keywords but also the synonyms, Scribe also gives this information. The SERP (Search Engine Results Page) tab lets me see how my description will look on the search page. It also gives SEO’s best practices for each analysis.
I have been very pleased with the Scribe SEO plugin and encourage you to give it a try. You can try it FREE for 30 days to see what you think! If you decide it is for you, subscriptions start as low as $17/mth. You are free to cancel before the 30 days FREE trial ends with no further obligation.
Today, Friday, is MegaSwagbucks day again! This means the odds are higher to win the big bills! Of course there is no guarantee that you will win, but they do guarantee to award over 400,000 in Mega Bills!
If you have not already, sign up with Swagbucks (you get 30 bonus SB for signing up!), and begin using it as your search engine for your normal internet searches. The difference is, Swagbucks are awarded randomly for searches. These Swagbucks can then be redeemed at the Swagstore for merchandise from electronics, t-shirts, gift cards and much more. My favorite is the $5 Amazon.com gift card for 450SB. I think this is the most bang for the buck!
There are other ways to win also! Download the toolbar and it is at your fingertips! Swagcodes are periodically sent out in emails through the toolbar. Swaghunts are announced when a code is hidden somewhere on the site and you follow clues to find the code. There are also Special Offers to complete for Swagbucks.
Special Offers are available for many items from freebies to those which require a purchase. Yesterday, I took the time to complete a couple which interested me. American Greetings has a trial offer which pays 246 SB. Netflix also has a trial offer which awards 850 SB. I have the option to cancel before the end of my trial offer if I choose, and retain my Swagbucks. Check them out!
I just received an email stating that the National Consumer Panel has openings!
Are you familiar with the National Consumer Panel? It is a national organization made up of people like you and me that provide information by what we purchase. These opinions help manufacturers and retailers decide what products to produce and improve. If accepted as a member, you will be sent a hand held scanner. After returning home from shopping, you or a family member simply scan the bar codes of the products purchased. Then weekly, you send them your information.
What are the benefits? You will earn points that may be redeemed for name brand merchandise including, electronics, household items, jewelry, toys and more! You are also earning entries into their sweepstakes. And, you are making your opinions count!
To join, simply fill out the information form on the NCP website. You will know after submitting the first page whether they are accepting in your area or not. Always before when applying, I received the message after the first page, that there were no openings in our area! I am making progress! This time I received the message after completing the whole form, that I was placed on a waiting list and will be sent a scanner when selected. The form is 5 pages and took no more than 5 minutes to answer all the household information. I am excited to see what happens!
Don’t forget – today is Friday and that means it’s Mega Swagbucks Day! The big deal is that instead of winning 10, 20, 100 or 200 swagbucks, you might win 1000 or 2000!
If you are not familar with Swagbucks, it is basically a search engine which gives “bucks” randomly as you search the internet as you normally would. What could be easier? Do what you normally do online except now use swagbucks for your searches. Downloading the toolbar makes it easier because it is always at your fingertips. Plus, with the toolbar, you also receive emails from the swag guy containing codes in them which can be entered on the homepage and redeemed for swagbucks. There are also special offers available to complete (many of them free) which also yield swagbucks!
Take a minute to browse the swagstore for all the great prizes that your swagbucks can be redeemed for – everything from amazon giftcards (my personal favorite) to electronics to…
Just go to Swagbucks and sign up – you will get 30 Bonus Swagbucks just for signing up to get you started!
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Grab My Dime! 
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About Me 
God has amazingly blessed me, Dina-Marie, with a wonderful husband and 10 beautiful children. Moving from our "secure" life in Alabama to the "exciting" life of starting a vineyard in west Texas has been challenging to say the least. I have had the opportunity to take a crash course in frugal living and become a real farm girl - complete with milk cow and chickens. I have learned the importance of health from the inside out, "traditional" cooking and cod liver oil!
I hope to encourage you to make the most of where you are and what you have. |
