Baking A Little Bread and Earning A Little Bread

I've been a little busier than usual lately because I've been earning a few dollars doing mystery shops. I've written about mystery shopping before; at the pace I do them, there's no fortune to be made, but the small earnings help to fill in the gaps when Shane isn't able to work a full 40-hour week. I didn't do many shops over the summer, but I've decided to pick up a few lately because Shane's missed a day almost every week recently because of rain.

If you want to read more about my experiences as a mystery shopper, you can do so here and here.

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Last month, I made some cheese-filled dinner rolls. Since then, I've tweaked the recipe just a little and have been using it to make a lot of good things. I've used the recipe for pizza crust, for "baked-in-the-bun" hot dogs, for lunch rolls filled with Sloppy Joe meat and smoked pepper jack cheese, and for sandwich bread. This bread is light and fluffy, even after I subbed in a cup of whole wheat flour for the white flour. It's quickly becoming one of my favorites. The recipe follows the photos.

Italian Sausage Pizza

Baked-In-The-Bun Hot Dogs

Another look at Baked-In-The-Bun Dogs

Bread for toast or sandwiches

Versatile Basic Bread

4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup lukewarm milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar or honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Combine all the ingredients and mix and knead until you have a soft, elastic dough (don't add too much flour - the key to soft dinner rolls is a soft dough!). Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover, letting rise in a warm place for 20-30 minutes.

Punch down dough and shape as desired. * Cover and let rise again for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until nearly doubled.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. When the dough has risen, bake for 15 to 18 minutes for rolls, slightly longer for loaves, until the top of bread is nicely browned. Remove from the pan immediately and cool on a rack.

*One batch will make16-20 rolls, 2 short loaves, 1 long (Pullman) loaf, or two 12-14" pizza crusts.

Gettin' Ready

The lack of posts this week is because I'm getting things ready for a yard sale tomorrow and Saturday.

Making extra money is nice, but what we're really trying to make is extra space, so we're pricing things low to get them out of here! If you're local and want the address, email me at imannies (at) gmail.com.

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On an entirely different note, Shane and I were invited by Quiltgranny Sharon and her husband Kevin to attend an advanced screening of Julie & Julia. What a wonderful movie!! It was funny and charming, as much a romantic comedy as it was a movie about food and cooking. Meryl Streep did a fantastic job as Julia Child. I highly recommend the movie to everyone.

Recapping Mystery Shopping

In the last two or three weeks, two of my friends have asked me for information on mystery shopping. I sent them specific information, but I thought I’d revisit the topic and tell what I’ve done in the seven months I've been mystery shopping.

Let me start by saying that I’m not in any way a career mystery shopper. On average, I do just ten shops a month.

Rarely do I go out only to do mystery shopping. I usually only schedule shops to coincide with my other errands or appointments. Of course, there are exceptions. In fact, just yesterday I went out specifically for "secret" shopping because a commission was raised to an unusually high amount and I couldn't pass it up, especially since I could add two other lesser shops in the same area.

There are many mystery shopping companies to work for; I have done work for four. However, I choose to do most of my shopping for just one company. I like the shops they offer as well as their payment method and schedule.

As I’ve mentioned before, most of the shops I do pay a commission in addition to reimbursing all or part of a purchase. Some only reimburse for a purchase. A few are commission-only and require no purchase. Finally, one was not a shop at all, but rather a product demonstration that paid an hourly wage.

With those points in mind, here is what I’ve been able to do in seven months:

Cash earnings (commissions and product demo) - $488
Fully reimbursed carryout or delivery pizzas – approx. 25 large pizzas
Fully reimbursed pizza buffet lunches for one – 4
Fully reimbursed sports bar lunch for one - 1
Fully reimbursed Mongolian BBQ dinner for two – 1
Reimbursement up to $14 for a clothing item – 2
Reimbursement up to $8 for a household item - 1
Reimbursement of $1-$2 purchases made to prove I shopped – approximately 33

The reimbursements total close to $380. So, the total value of all my shops is approximately $868, or about $125 a month.

The commissions I’ve earned have ranged from $4 to $50 and can vary greatly from one month to the next, even for the same store or business. The shops also vary in difficulty. Some are as easy as driving by a fast food restaurant after dark to check signs and lights for outages. Others have meant posing as a prospective renter at an apartment complex. Most simply require a review of a store’s appearance and customer service along with a token purchase to prove I was there.

The shops can be learning experiences as well. I’m now up to speed on new models of refrigerators, gas ranges, computer printers, and closet organizing systems. Should we need to buy any of those in the near future, I know just what I want and where to find it. And believe me, there’s no doubt in my mind who has the best pizza in town!

As with any job, there is time involved. There is time required to do the shop and time required to complete the online reports. There is usually a window of several hours to submit the report after the shopping portion is done; just as with the shopping, I work the reporting into my schedule more or less at my leisure. The more shops I do, the more quickly I am able to do both the shopping and the reporting.

There is also the issue of taxes to consider. In most cases, it’s up to the mystery shopper to report his or her own earnings at tax time. However, a few companies do collect the necessary information and send out 1099 forms at the end of the year.

I think mystery shopping is a pretty good gig for something that’s really nothing more than a hobby for me. But who knows what a person could do if they applied themselves and worked for several companies at a time?

Getting Serious About Decluttering

The 365 Day Declutter Challenge continues, and I'm getting more serious, not just in getting The Stuff out of here, but in ramping up my eBay and craigslist sales.

Determining what to try to sell, what to give away to charity thrift stores and what to give directly to individuals is often a guessing game. It's generally pretty easy to determine if something has value and will sell, but its value, size, popularity will determine whether I list it on eBay or craigslist. Large items and those I want out of my way quickly get listed on craigslist. Highly popular items (like certain books) and collectibles usually get listed on eBay instead.

Giving away items is actually a little trickier. On the one hand, there is the tax deduction to be had when I give things to charity thrift stores. On the other, I like the idea of putting useful items directly into the hands of someone who can use them. I don't get the tax break, but I do get the warm fuzzy feeling that I never get when I drop stuff off at Goodwill. Thus I try divide my freebies evenly.



Here's the rundown of days 76 through 94.

Day 76 – Shipped a requested book to a Frugal Reader member.

Day 77 – Sold a set of spring form pans on craigslist.

Days 78 & 79 - Put 5 cookbooks in the donation box, listed 1 on eBay and listed 4 on half.com.

Day 80 – Removed 4 baking dishes and two Wilton cake pans from my kitchen cabinets. Will sell some and donate the rest.

Day 81 – Spent the day decluttering the computer room (aka catch-all room) and sorted things into piles to donate or sell.

Day 82 – Sold two attic ventilators on craigslist.

Days 83-87 – Sold 3 books and 2 CD on either eBay or half.com.

Day 88 – Donated. All the stuff I’ve been putting in the donation boxes adds up, as you can see:



Day 89 – Sold four pairs of Kat’s outgrown jeans and two of her skirts on eBay.

Day 90 & 91 – Discontinued my Frugal Reader account as the books I have to trade have been listed there more than a year; they probably aren’t going to be requested any time soon, and heaven knows I don’t need to request any for myself since my “to read” stack is about 40 books high. Ended up giving away 61 books via a craigslist ad.

Day 92 – Sold another CD on eBay.

Day 93 – Sold an outgrown coat and sweater of Kat’s and a never-worn fleece pullover of Shane's on eBay.

Day 94 – After culling out a few I think I can sell, I gave away 23 cookbooks and 28 cooking magazines to someone via a craigslist ad. I may officially be in recovery!

Mystery Pizza

I'm not trying to convert anyone to mystery shopping, but I wanted to share an example of how it works to my advantage.

Tomorrow I need to take our van to the dealership to get the wiring harness installed so that we can safely and legally pull the pop-up trailer behind it. (For once, there's something about the van that Shane wasn't able to figure out on his own; he doesn't want to void the remaining warranty by messing with it too much).

The dealership is in a different 'burb, about 15 miles away and my appointment is in the middle of the day. I wouldn't drive that far just to do a mystery shop, but knowing I'll be in that part of town, I checked one of the mystery shopping sites I signed up with and voila!...there is a pizza store just a couple of blocks from the dealership that needs to be shopped. For picking up a pizza and taking a few pictures of it, along with rating the service, I'll get the price of the pizza reimbursed, along with a $7 commission. That's enough to compensate for my gasoline to and from the dealership.

What's more, this particular company pays its auditors (mystery shoppers) every two weeks, so I never have to wait long to be reimbursed.

This will be the fourth pizza I've shopped for in the last couple of weeks, not to mention one dine-in pizza buffet lunch. Shane claims he never gets tired of it, and it's a good thing that Kat has finally decided she likes pizza again. It looks like it may become standard fare around here.

I'm In The Mood For A Swim

So I think I'll be jumping the eBay ship soon.

As of yesterday, eBay sellers will no longer be able to leave negative or neutral feedback for problem buyers. Yet buyers will be able to leave negatives for sellers, even if the buyer is the problem. Even if if the buyer doesn't pay for the item he/she bids on.

I've been selling (and buying occasionally) for about 4-1/2 years. I have a 100% Positive rating on 649 transactions. I'm far from being what eBay calls a PowerSeller. Still, I do my best to give good customer service and I'm proud of my 100% rating.

For the record, I've never left negative feedback for either a buyer or a seller, although there were times when it was probably warranted. I didn't leave negatives because I was afraid of jeopardizing my perfect feedback. Feedback for a buyer is of minimal importance, in my opinion. If they have enough negative feedback to be suspended from eBay, they can just sign up again under a new user name. However, feedback is a seller's very reputation. Just one negative for a low-volume seller like me can drastically change my percentages...and my reputation.

I'm wary of buyers demanding a refund for an item they claim they never received. I fear having a buyer refuse to pay for the item they bid on, then turning around and leaving me negative feedback if I dispute the non-payment. Simply put, as a seller, I now feel that I'm at the mercy of the buyer and run the risk of negative feedback any time I don't go along with the buyer's wishes.

I'm not saying that all buyers are out to scam sellers, or all sellers are above reproach. I'm simply saying that the new feedback policy adds a dynamic to the eBay scene that isn't setting well with me at all.

In addition, fee schedules for eBay recently changed and it seems that wherever there was a decrease in fees, there was an equal or greater increase in other fees. While price increases are the way of the world these days, eBay costs are beginning to hurt those of us who sell.

Craigslist works well for me for some items, but it's not ideal for everything. Small items seem to be overlooked a lot; I assume that rising fuel prices have a lot to do with it.

Anyone else in the same boat, trying to decide whether to sink in the eBay waters or swim somewhere else? If so, what alternatives are you considering?

Good Ol' ROI

ROI, or Return On Investment, is a term typically used when talking about money earned on investments such as stocks, bonds, and money market accounts.

But ROI can also mean a return on money invested in a material item that is sold later.

For example, we bought the chair in the picture in 2005. At that time, we had blue furniture in our living room and the chair matched perfectly. It was a very gently used Ethan Allen recliner that the owner didn't like. We picked it up at a garage sale for $50. It was very comfortable and we enjoyed it until we decided to change our living room furniture last summer. We sold it this week on craigslist for $100.

Our return on that investment was 200%. Granted, it's not a steady rate of return over a period of months or years, but it's a huge return in relation to the money we invested.

Instead of a monetary return, ROI can also mean a return on time invested in a project or activity. If I spend time cooking and freezing meals in advance, I'll save as much or more time later when I don't have as much of it to spare. If I take a few minutes each week to track where our money is going, I may be able to recognize and remedy a problematic spending trend, thereby saving us money. We all know that a penny saved is a penny earned.

Not all ROIs can be easily measured; some returns on investment are more intrinsic in nature. In the case of the chair we sold, we not only made money on the investment, but also enjoyed using the chair for a couple of years. Sewing, gardening, making home improvements and cooking can all save money, but they're also seen as an enjoyable hobbies by the people who do them.

Before deciding that an investment or a frugal activity is not worth the time or money, take a closer look at the ROI it could yield, both monetarily and intrinsically. You might be surprised that it's worth your time after all.

A Small Banking Upgrade

For a while, we banked with one of the "big boys" in town, but grew increasingly unhappy with the number of mistakes they were making with our accounts. We decided to move our money to a smaller bank.

We've had a good experience with our current bank. They offer a "totally free" checking account with no minimum balance requirement, and they haven't made any errors with our account in more than a year. The only drawback has been that they are located in the next suburb north of here. It's usually on Shane's way home (depending on where he's working at any given time), but is almost never convenient for me.

That alone wouldn't cause us to change banks again, but last week we received a brochure in the mail for another home-town bank. Still not in our hometown, its two branches are more convenient to me than our current bank, and no less convenient for Shane.

What's more, they are offering a totally free checking account that pays 6.01% APY interest on balances between 1¢ and $25,000 (somewhat less for higher balances, but that isn't something the Jones family needs to worry about right now). They also waive their fees for using ATM machines outside their network.

The requirements are simple:

1. Use their debit card for at least 10 purchases each month (not including ATM transactions),
2. Have either one automatic monthly payment paid from the account or one direct deposit to the account each month, and
3. Sign up for e-statements rather than paper statements.

We are already doing these three things each month with our current bank, so it should be easy to meet the requirements. And if we don't for some reason, the account will still earn .30 APY.

As if that weren't enough, they will give us a small CorningWare Mini Set and will pay us $10 toward our new checks if we bring our old ones in for them to destroy. (Yes, we still use checks for a few of our transactions.)

We won't be carrying a large balance, so our earnings won't make us rich by any means, but why shouldn't we take advantage of the earnings and convenience?

We'll be moving our account this weekend.

All Work And No Play

Shane, who is an ironworker, has been working 10-hour days, six days a week, for months now. Except for a few rain-out days, the only break he gets is on Sundays. They've even talked about having his crew work Sundays, but so far, he's been lucky and it hasn't happened.

All the overtime has been great in helping us catch up from a lot of missed work this past spring. (In case some of you don't know, he was bitten on the forearm by a dog, seriously enough that he missed more than a week of work, and it was an especially wet spring with a lot of rain-out days.) But all the work doesn't leave him much time or energy for play.

For example, we've been invited to Sheila's benefit party for her boyfriend Tom. They are having beer and live music as a way to raise enough money to buy Tom a special shower chair. Sheila and Tom live just a few miles away from us, and I was looking forward to finally meeting fellow bloggers in our area, but we've decided not to go. By the time Shane gets home tonight around 6:45, showers and eats dinner, he'll not want to do anything but kick back in the recliner and relax. I can't blame him for that.

With Daylight Savings Time ending this weekend and the weather turning cooler, I'm hoping that the overtime ends soon. Or at least falls back to just eight hours on Saturday and nothing extra during the week. I know a lot of the guys Shane works with are hoping for the same thing. The overtime has become too much of a good thing.

BTW, if you're in the mood to perform a random act of kindness today, head on over to Sheila's Seriously Sheila blog and make a small (or large) PayPal donation for a good cause. (It's in the sidebar on the left, near the bottom). They'll be a step closer to their goal, and you'll feel all warm and fuzzy for doing it. Everybody wins!

Karma

I must have been really good lately. Or maybe in a past life.

Remember that little job I had counting customers a week or so ago? I did about 3 hours of actual work spread out over ten hours each of three day. I was told that I'd be paid for eight hours each shift, and I thought that was a pretty good deal considering all the down-time.

The direct deposit posted today. I got paid for all 30 hours instead of just 24. Sweet.

We also received our property tax bill today (just the vehicles, not the house). Because we moved in 2006, our taxes will be paid to a different county than last year. Between the switchover and depreciation, our taxes are half of what I'd anticipated.

Things are beginning to look up!

The Cost of Working

I’ve been searching for a job for a while now, and one of the things I’ve been carefully considering is the “cost of working” for each possible job. There may be more…or maybe I should say less…than meets the eye when looking at the bottom line.

Often there are hidden costs when you work. Your salary or wage may seem generous at first glance, but after evaluating these hidden costs, it turns out to be not so generous after all.

For example, the corporate position I’ve interviewed for twice in the last few weeks will require business casual attire and dressy shoes that I do not currently own. Some of the new clothes may need to be dry cleaned. Being in the public eye, I may decide my hair needs to be cut or colored more often. There maybe be non-reimbursed luncheon meetings I’m expected to attend. It’s likely I will want to go out for lunch once in a while instead of bringing my own, or maybe there will be “food days” when I’m expected to bring a covered dish from home. There will undoubtedly be bridal/baby shower collections, charitable donations, birthday or retirement gifts and holiday festivities that I’ll both want and be expected to participate in.

The job would be reasonably close to home, but there would be commuting costs to consider; not just gasoline, but wear and tear on my van. If time is money (and in many ways, it is), then there would be commuting time, time spent getting ready for work each day, and the non-paid time I’m at lunch to include in my overall equation.

Subtract those expenses from the base pay, and then divide by the total number of hours related to the job in any way, and the hourly wage goes down quite a bit.

In comparison, the government job I’ve also applied for offers a lower hourly wage, but by the time I weigh all the variables, the gap closes considerably.

Benefits are an important consideration as well and can be converted into a dollar value. I’m fortunate enough to have excellent health insurance through Shane’s job, but still need to evaluate things like retirement packages, 401k funds, long- and short-term disability, etc. With a four-year-old in the house, being able to take sick or personal time off if she is ill is very important. Before I make a decision, I need to know if there is paid time off, and if so, how it accrues and how soon it's available to me.

Finally, there are non-pecuniary “costs” involved with any job. Is the work fulfilling and enjoyable? Will I learn and grow in the position? Will I get along well with my co-workers? Will there be opportunities for advancement? Will the commute be too stressful or tiring? Will I look forward to going to work? At the end of the day, will I be generally happy or am I likely to be grouchy and miserable? Does my potential employer believe in a personal life for employees or will they frequently ask me to stay late or take work home with me?

While these intrinsic values are difficult to anticipate and measure, I think they are important. Life is too short to take or stay in a job that keeps me from my family and/or makes me miserable.

BTW—these are also good tools to use when you are thinking of changing jobs or if you or your spouse are considering leaving work altogether to become a stay-at-home parent. For more detailed instructions how to calculate the cost of working, see Joe Dominguez’ book Your Money or Your Life, or Amy Dacyczyn’s Complete Tightwad Gazette.