Start a 'cottage industry'... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

RosaThorne

What are those "WillItFit"s? I want one already!
Just wondering: I forwarded on your message about living on £4K and making £3K from nothing and he loved it but asked "Do you have a blog or will you be writing a book?" I'm thinking, write the book on the computer and charge people to download it...Money making challenge for 2009??

P.S. Love the cow

Frugaldom

Hi Rosa,

I got so sick fed-up guessing what cards would and wouldn't fit through the new resized postal slots and then the final straw came when a birthday card failed to arrive and, in it's place, a demand from the PO for £1.06 to collect it because it was under stamped! Have you ever tried propping up one of those stupid fold out paper things you get from the post office? And I certainly wasn't paying a fiver for a plastic one, so... my question regarding all out-going mail has to be, "Will It Fit?" Now I know, because I pop it through the 'WillItFit' just to make sure. It also acts as a doodle pad and mine's covered in stickers and stamp marks now but it's my handiest 'gadget' around.

As for the 4k challenge, yes, it is completely documented for future use

Edited in: who is 'he'? ("... I forwarded on your message about living on £4K and making £3K from nothing and he loved it.)

RosaThorne

nykmedia wrote: »

Edited in: who is 'he'? ("... I forwarded on your message about living on £4K and making £3K from nothing and he loved it.)

Ooops!! My Dad... He's into money saving in a big way... His mates just tell him he's tighter than a duck's a**e though!! :rotfl:

Frugaldom

RosaThorne wrote: »

Ooops!! My Dad... He's into money saving in a big way... His mates just tell him he's tighter than a duck's a**e though!! :rotfl:

Tell your dad that next time someone calls him tight to refer them to me, 'cos they ain't seen nuthin, yet! Scots ain't mean, we're just extremely, unbelievably frugal.

The above in no way assumes that all Scots are the same, it is a basic understanding of how I see it and, as such, is my personal opinion, as viewed by me, of err... me! LOL

PS: If I sell the cow, I'll send you 73p so your ISA makes it to the £1 mark before Christmas

nannydiddy

Thanks for the infor guys...it all still sounds very scary !!! i will call the tax office and let you know.

Cheers

ps...I wanna chubby cow !!!!

HugoSP

My OH, who went to art college, did some design work for garden centres.

She had a contact via a friend of hers who did marketing for garden centres and she was commissioned to do artists impressions, logos, sketches etc. It helped that she has a real interest for gardens etc.

She also did name designs for babies - pictures of teddybares and sailing boats with the baby's name on them. Plus she did a chinese dragon for a colleague of mine to give his wife for Christmas. She got commissions via my work, her work and friends etc.

Frugaldom

Funny you should mention garden centres LOL The cut outs have now been made into planters and flowerpot holders by the person who owns the woodwork place, he's also now cutting out house, stable & farm nameplates, so I don't think I'll be able to include this idea in my next year's extra income generating plan
Back to the little off-cuts and WillItFits for me, but I am sure there must be loads of things I can do with them.

geordie_joe

nykmedia wrote: »

Back to the little off-cuts and WillItFits for me, but I am sure there must be loads of things I can do with them.

How about keyrings in a persons name?

A colleague went to africa for a holiday and brought me back a keyring in my name. It was nothing more than a piece of wood cut into the shape of "JOSEPH" with a hole drilled into it and the "keyring" slotted through it, but I was pleased with it.

They don't cost much, so you wouldn't make a fortune. But people would buy them as small gifts to give as sourvineers.

Just had a thought, why not bespoke names. Instead of JOSEPH you could do GEORDIEJOE. Peoples usernames or pet names they have for each other. Make them to order, instead of just doing the usual common names.

Think about it, how often have you looked at cups. keyrings etc. with names on and not found yours because you don't have a "common" name?

How about room plaques, instead of "John's room" you could do whatever the customer wants on the plaque.

Turn your off cuts into words, they will sell.

full-time-mum

Gosh, you are a creative lot. I do envy you all as my skill is cooking which is a nightmare of regulations and certificates so not a skill I am likely to be using in the near future.

I love the WillItFit and anything personalised is bound to go down well, especially if done to order. DD2 is Kiera spelt "ie" but because of Keira Knightley you can only get "ei" in the mass market.

Good luck to all you.

PS: I'm registered self-employed and did a 1/2 day course run by the tax office which was very helpful. My first tax return was a nightmare but next year, I will know what I am doing and it will be a doddle.

RosaThorne

nykmedia wrote: »

PS: If I sell the cow, I'll send you 73p so your ISA makes it to the £1 mark before Christmas

That's so sweet of you... I'm already getting close - Found 4 1P coins in town today! How much is the cow then?

Been making fabric hearts today from off-cuts... Taking them to the boot-sale on Sunday - 50p each? Quick cash for last miniute Christmas shopping