Jonsies Musings

Blog

  • Spare Your Budget on Groceries

    Spare Your Budget on Groceries
    Since coupons are not much of an option anymore, it’s becoming more difficult to save the way we did in years past.

    Watch Local Sales
    There are still things you can do, such as keeping track of sales at your local markets and taking advantage of them when you can. I know it means you may have to go from one store to another, but I’ve found that store‑hopping has saved quite a bit on my budget — especially when it comes to meat.

    Try Shopping at Aldi
    Another option is to shop at Aldi, where prices tend to be lower. Many of their generic products are actually made by name‑brand companies. They don’t advertise that, of course, because they want to make money from both ends of the shopping world.

    If you look closely at some of the products at Aldi, you’ll notice that many of them come in boxes and cans that look almost identical to the name‑brand versions. It has made me do a double‑take more than once.

    Generic Brands Can Save Money
    Kids tend to be rather finicky — and I can’t blame them — but many generic brands taste just like the name brand. You just can’t let the kids see the box. I will add, however, that I’ve tried generic/store‑brand macaroni and cheese, and those have been a fail.

    Going out and buying a bunch of generic brands at once isn’t the best idea until you know whether your family will actually eat them.

    Use Cashback Apps
    One app I like to use is Ibotta. It works with many stores, including Aldi, Walmart, Dollar General, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and even Sheetz. All you need is your cell phone to join and download the app. You can start earning cash back on items they offer and cash out at $20 intervals — or let it grow.

    I’m sure there are other apps out there that do something similar, but Ibotta has been around for a while and has a lot of happy users.

    Another app I use is Upside. This app helps me save on gas, and you can also earn a bit back when eating out. Although we’ve stopped going out to eat, I specifically use the Upside app to save a few cents at the pump.

    Every Penny Counts
    Be wise and shop for savings — every penny counts!

  • How to Start Selling on eBay

    Previously, I talked about Facebook Marketplace and how you can make money without any investment, other than your time and you only needed a phone that takes pictures. Most cell phones do that so, it is something you probably already own.

    Now for those who want to try eBay selling, the first thing you need to understand is that it is not passive income. It is something that does not have to cost you much other than your time.

    eBay allows users to sell without having to pay for an eBay website, however there are final value fees assessed after you sell something taken from your earnings. That is just a given.

    The costs involved to begin are needing a printer that many already have to print out packing slips and shipping labels. The first item you will need after that is a scale for weighing your items while in a box to get accurate measurements for calculated shipping.

    Calculated shipping is done by eBay after you put in the appropriate shipping numbers. Weight of package and the dimensions of the package you are using.

    Calculated shipping is a must when first beginning and are on very limited funds. This ensures that you do not pay the shipping costs, but the buyer does.

    I bought an inexpensive scale on amazon, which you can find by clicking on the word amazon to take you to that page. (note: this is an affiliate link which may earn me a small commission should you purchase).

    Shipping supplies do not need to cost you an arm and a leg to begin. You can use old boxes that you have received merchandise in or even go to your local market, convenience store, etc. and ask if they mind you taking some of their cardboard boxes that have made it to their dumpster.

    To pack your boxes to protect the item(s) you can use old newspapers unless it is something that it matters if the ink blends into your item. I have been using old Christmas paper left over by turning it over and using it so the white side is out. If you have some that are printed on both sides I don’t think your buyers will mind, so long as they receive their item undamaged.

    Basically, your time is what is used the most. And having to take the time to run to the post office to have your package scanned and receive a copy of your package to be delivered.

    If it sounds like a lot of work, yes it is, however the ROI (return of investment) from selling things you already own is worth it for me.

    There are many more things involved but for now we will leave it at this. Just remember, you do not need expensive equipment to start. You do not need to buy inventory if you use what you already have in your home that you do not use or want anymore. (clothes new or used, shoes, collectibles, figurines, books, etc.)

    To start out on eBay you can watch my video on You Tube found here. (click the word here)

    Missed my Facebook Marketing video on how to sell there? Go to YouTube here. (again click the word here)

    Below are links to things I have bought to help me with my eBay marketing. Once again, these are affiliate links and should you make a purchase I may earn a small commission.

    Tools I Use:

    Scale: Found on Amazon click here.

    Camera: Also, found on Amazon click here.

    Adjustable Tripod for digital camera on Amazon, click here.

    I chose the above products for durability and pricing. The camera works to take both still pictures for my products and records video/sound, a perfect camera for me as a beginner. The digital world did not exist when I was a kid, so I have a hurdle to jump over that most of you younger generations won’t have.

    Stay tuned for more help getting started selling things you already own. If you watch my You Tube videos, please subscribe to my channel. In time that will be another topic of discussion and how to make money doing videos on You Tube.

    Thank you for reading/watching. I wish you all great success in your online endeavors.

  • To Much Month, Not Enough Money?

    Like many of you, I found myself with to much month and not enough money to go around. It was constantly causing me to worry about running out of food for the month and keeping the lights on.

    After months of watching a young family who had found a way to be their own bosses, I finally took the plunge.

    What plunge you may ask? The plunge was to start selling on eBay and Facebook marketplace. Why? Because, I didn’t have to go get inventory by buying it.

    If you are like me and have a lifetime of collectibles, clothes, shoes, books, etc., then you to can start selling without the overhead of needing inventory to start.

    I did buy a scale so that I could weigh things that needed shipping. It didn’t cost me an arm and a leg but, it could have if I had to have the best. But, I didn’t need the best, I only needed something that worked. I found my scale at Amazon.

    The next item I decided to get was a camera for my computer, when I gathered enough courage to try my hand at YouTube videos. Again, I found this at Amazon.

    Now, if you are completely broke and can’t afford even the basic items, you are not just down and out. Facebook Marketplace allows you to create items for sale. You can choose to have people come to you or have a meet up destination.

    People will pay you in cash for your item(s) and from there you do what you need to do with that money. One piece of advice is to keep track of what you sell for tax purposes.

    Another piece of advice for Facebook Marketplace is to be patient. You don’t need to pay for advertising people will find you during their search for specific items. Be ready to get ghosted which by that I mean people will message you “is the item still available?”, Even if you respond immediately, you never hear from them again.

    I stopped meeting people because I had the unfortunate times where I would go to the meeting place and people just never showed up nor answered my text messages.

    It can be aggravating, but it is par for the course. Just take it as it comes and try not to get upset as it isn’t worth your time nor sanity to be bothered.

    When it comes to eBay, there is a fee to set up a store, but you don’t have to have a store and can list up to 250 items per month without one.

    The downside to eBay is when you sell something there are final selling fees that will be deducted from your earnings.

    The upside is that when someone makes a purchase you don’t have to sit around and wait for someone to come get the item. The item is paid for and at that point eBay tells you to ship item.

    Granted, there are some returns on eBay however it is a very small percentage overall.

    You can also decide to start a YouTube channel which you can earn money from if you meet the criteria of so many subscribers and so many viewing hours. It for me is an intimidating process as I am not good on camera. However, it is in my basket for another form of income.

    Just remember whatever you chose to do, plan to be in it for the long haul as success takes time. As they say patience is a virtue. I am not the most patient person in the world, but I am learning.

    You have nothing to lose but your time and at my age, time is basically all I have.

    Best of Luck with Your Endeavors.

  • ARGH!!!

    Paypal closed my account of nearly 24 years! I haven’t done anything different but their new most likely AI system flagged it.

    I had to search for their number as always and argue with the chat bot to send me to a real person to speak with. Finally, I reached one after what seemed an eternity.

    The lady was nice, putting me on hold a few times finally coming back to tell me that she would put in a request for a final review. She really couldn’t explain what happened. Shrug! But, I did ask if I could open a new account to which she said yes, however I should wait for the final review to come back in 7 to 10 days.

    Sooo, needless to say I pulled up my trusted AI bot “Gemini”, and explained what was happening to see if I could get more clarity of what was happening.

    Since this thing can see my open pages he (for lack of a better term) told me that my PayPal account had pings from IPNs that are from sites that are no longer allowed. Which just happened to be traffic exchanges and safelists.

    He explained I should go into PayPal and remove those IPNs from there or go to each site listed by PayPal and either delete my PayPal address or delete the accounts.

    What I found was many sites were in fact defunct, you couldn’t login as they no longer exist.

    The other issue as I explained to Gemini was I haven’t used those sites in a very long time. He explained it didn’t matter because PayPal had a while back meaning years ago refused to keep doing business with those kind of sites. And because there were pings from them it raised a red flag.

    Gemini said most likely I won’t get my account back even though I did nothing wrong. So now, here I sit to wait on PayPal to give me the final verdict before I do open a new account.

    It really causes me more work if I do have to open a new account because I will have to change things on sites that I use and receive payouts in.

    That brings me to another little pain in the tush. I had payouts going to PayPal that are now in limbo and according to my buddy Gemini, I will have to wait 180 days after they permanently close the account.

    Granted it was not a lot of money, but with our finances in the pickle they are in due to all of the high costs living on a fixed income it is a bit of a bite.

    I guess my point is if you have ever used a traffic exchange or safelist with PayPal, do yourself a favor and go make sure you change your payment methods in those things or try to remove the ipns from Paypals side.

    Good Luck. I never would have thought in a million years that this would happen having had my PayPal account for nearly 24 years.

  • Prices of Everything

    Are Out of this World!!!

    Anybody else feeling the heat? I know I am. Grocery shopping has become a dreaded trip, due to the cost of everything. On top of that the cost of gas has jumped a minimum of 50 cents a gallon overnight.

    Let’s talk about grocery shopping. Did you know that a lot of the Great Value Brands in Walmart are actually made by the same companies who make the name brands?

    The first way to save money when shopping at Walmart is to try out the Great Value Brands which can stretch your budget. If you shop at other stores use coupons. The biggest way to save on groceries is to check out the fliers of the stores in your area for sales. Yes, it means making extra stops, however if it saves you money so you can feed your family without resorting to having to ration at the end of the month, I personally think it is worth it.

    There have been videos on youtube about how Walmart is taking advantage of their customers. Here is a video on youtube that shows how meat is labeled incorrectly and you end up paying for more meat than you actually bought.

    Just search on youtube and you will find videos of those who weighed their meat before buying and found as much as two to three pounds difference than what the label read. Meaning you are overpaying.

    Aldi is another place to shop at for more savings. Many of their products are also made by name brand companies. The thing many find inconvenient is having to put a quarter in to get a shopping cart. Although, when you take the cart back into the store after putting your groceries into your car, you get your quarter back. The other inconvenience is having to bring your own bags or otherwise purchase bags at Aldis or find empty boxes to use.

    Want to save money at the gas pump? Try using upside. and if you use my code DEB99829 we will both save 15 cents per gallon by earning cash back. It is a one time offer which is also extended to restaurant and grocery purchases. Once your savings reach the required threshold you can request your payout.

    There are all sorts of ways to save money, you just have to search for them.

  • Hello world!

    Hello world!

    My personal musings that I hope helps others. In today’s world every penny counts! I will show you how I put money in my pocket with various methods. As well show you how to keep money in your pocket by not sending it to scrupulous people/programs.