The Saturday Weekend Review #20-The Young Cookie Selling Entrepreneur

Posted: May 18, 2013 in The Saturday Weekly Review
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he Saturday Weekly Review

No Cookie Monster hiding in this post.. just cookie selling and one interesting day. Since it’s the Victoria Day long weekend we decided to get up early and battle the garage sales. I spent 10 minutes last night jotting down the info in our garage sale route list so we knew exactly where we are going. Half of the battle is getting to the garage sales the other half is finding something you need for a great price.

As we made our path from sale to sale and picked up a few items that we could certainly put to good use we stumbled upon some other experiences along the way. The first garage sale we stopped at was raising money for cancer research. Each year a garage sale  is organized with a few neighbours who bring all their unwanted luxuries to to sell.

We found most of the garage sale items reasonably priced and for good reason, overpriced items end up back in the house. They also had some amazing baked goods up for offer such as monster cookies and brownies. Selling cookies for Cancer research seemed like a great way to help spread awareness in hopes one day they can find a cure. It was so nice to see all the kids pitching in for this event.

We also found another garage sale where the mother was putting her daughter to work starting up her own cookie business. It was the cutest thing we had seen in ages. This little girl had to be around 4 years old with a pink flower headband and a yellow jacket waiting to open shop.

She smiled with a large grin while anticipating the arrival of her mother bringing the homemade cookies that they had baked together for the garage sale. Today was the day she was going to become a young cookie entrepreneur, CEO of her own little homemade cookie business.

My wife reminisced with me at that moment about a time when she was young and she would sell cups of Kool-aid in her front yard. Some neighbourhood pals would set up a small table with pitchers of different varieties of  juice for $0.10 a glass. “There was something powerful about sitting behind that table with the money, especially when the other kids came over to check out what all the excitement was about”, she says.

Although the juice sales didn’t amass the amount needed to pay for her education she remembers that she gave the money to her parents. Her mother saved the money in a small change purse so she could use it for an upcoming class trip to some museum which she vaguely remembers. I guess it wasn’t all that memorable but the money came in handy to buy souvenirs, candy and a drink. At the time she says it taught her that if she wanted to go on trips she needed to save money to be able to spend money.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookie Selling

So this pretty little girl all dressed up sat at a tiny table with a huge dish of homemade chocolate chip cookies waiting for her first customer. The cookies for sale looked delicious and very tempting but everyone knows that I have a sweet tooth. The sign in front taped to the table read “Chocolate Chip Cookies $0.25 ” as it flapped in the wind. Her mother handed her a change pot and reminded her to say thank-you to every customer.

The little girl says, “Mommy, how do I know how much money to give back?” At this point I turned my head to be nosey as an older gentleman approached the cookie stand. The mother explained and showed her what to do and spoke up with a cheerful voice, ”don’t worry dear, this is a quarter worth $0.25 and every cookie will cost a quarter. If your customer hands you a different coin then you call me and I will help you”.

The little girl nods and says, “I got it, now I’m ready to sell my cookies”, although she seemed a bit shy we think it was all an act, she was a pro. Her first customer, the old man says, ”I’ll take 4 of those cookies young lady with a smile” and she says, “I’ll need 4 quarters from you then sir, thank-you” and my heart just smiled for this little girl.

Something so simple as a cookie stand may just teach her the value of money, the importance of talking to her customer and saying thank-you for the sale. If only she had understood the art of up-selling maybe offering a glass of milk for $1.00 or other sales techniques then she may have been able to sell the whole lot of cookies o the first buyer.

I walked over to make our purchase of 4 chocolate chip cookies and I asked the little girl what she planned to do with her cookie sales. This was money to my ears. She told me that she was going to save it in her piggy bank but she didn’t know what for yet.  Who knows maybe we will find out one day that she is the CEO of her own famous cookie company bragging that her first memory of baking and selling cookies was at a garage sale.

Smart kid!! I think she is well on her way down the personal finance road, at least that’s what we hope for these kids. Getting the kids involved is part of building memories that will last forever, that is until they need mom or daddy for back-up advice, potty break, play or nap time!

Question: Do you remember selling cookies or juice at a stand on your front yard when you were young? or Do your own kids do this today?

Hot Posts Of The Week

Canadian Budget Binder Update

I do have some good news for all of you. The new blog is well in sight and should be around shortly. My designer is working hard behind the scene putting the final touches together for me.

Other than that the blog has been peaceful but busy with many new fans here and on Facebook where we are nearing close to 5400 fans. I’m grateful for each and every one of you who champion this blog and take it under your wings as a team and fly with it. It’s with your support and dedication that we continue to grow, so thank-you.

Canadian Budget Binder At Home

What a crazy week it’s been for me. I’ve worked like mad around the house and even managed to slice my finger quite well when I harvested our rhubarb a few days back. My fault, bloody knife sharpener works well… ya, I sharpened the knife before I went out. Apparently I’m not allowed to use knives any longer without adult supervision.

All the summer lounge chairs and tables are now outside and the ready for our next backyard BBQ with our friends. We also picked up a handy deck rug that ties in perfectly with our table and chairs.

This past week we received part of the landscaping materials so I’ll be digging up the grounds in the next couple of weeks and working some magic outside. I’ll be talking more about that in upcoming posts as I detail how the owner of this company nearly lost a $1000 sale as we nearly walked away from them because of one error.

Hopefully the neighbours will stop thinking we are the weed house (not puffin the weed, I mean lawn weeds) and can breathe a sigh of relief that the young punks are finally taking care of their property. Ah well, it was more important for us to save the cash first then do the work, rather than put it on credit or use the money we were saving to pay off the mortgage.

Canadian Budget Binder’s Weekly Blog Posts

If you are a regular reader you would have already received these awesome posts  in your email but just in case you missed reading one I’ve put them all together here just for you.

Making A Difference

Making A Difference My Own Advisor

I’ve talked about how important it was to “Make a Difference” not only with my life but with this blog. I put out a call for other bloggers to email me a few paragraphs about why they are making a difference with their blog and to share what that difference was.

This week I bring to you fellow Canuck Mark from My Own Advisor who is making a difference in many people’s lives. I know when I first started following Mark I wasn’t sure what to expect but I’ve come to enjoy reading his posts because he keeps them simple even for the investing newbie like me. Mark is a great guy always willing to help out and I encourage you to head over and say hello!

My name is Mark and I’m in my late-thirties and blog at My Own Advisor.

I started investing when I was in my early 20′s, after reading David Chilton’s The Wealthy Barber.

I started my investing journey, albeit blindly all those years ago by putting my hard-earned money into big-bank mutual funds and paying high management expense fees (MERs) in the process.

Little did I know how much these fees would kill my portfolio returns over the years.  I also didn’t know there was another option…I could learn to invest for myself, become a do-it-yourself (DIY) investor and forget most of the financial noise around me. I’ve heard of these people, folks who “went it alone” and became successful investors but thought it was far too fetched for me to do.  Not anymore.

Over the years, I’ve read books, I’ve studied the markets and I’ve learned to pay close attention to where, how and when to invest my hard-earned dollars.  I’ve also learned to be wary of the financial industry. Why? The way I see it, nobody cares more about my money than I do.  You should feel the same about your hard-earned dollars.

My Own Advisor is a personal finance and investing blog dedicated to chronicling my journey to financial independence.  I’ve got ways to go to reach my financial dreams but I’m on my way, investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and dividend paying stocks.

Personal finance and investing is a growing passion of mine and I will be using this site to post my thoughts, opinions and journey to financial freedom being my own financial advisor. I encourage you to follow my financial journey and interact with me along the way.  This way, we can learn together. 

I welcome your comments, questions and the opportunity to answer any questions you might have.

See you around my blog!

Mark

Blogs You Should Check Out And Follow

Who’s Talking Canadian Budget Binder

Thank you all so much for taking the time to share CBB!

Carnival Glory
Free Wedding Gift Idea

fort-building-kit

My friend Anne at Unique Gifter approached me with this cool make your own fort building kit she has put together. The best part is you can download it for FREE! It’s a great Wedding gift to give to someone with a luxury sheet set.

Anne explains the kit in great details so head over to Unique Gifter and check it out. Let Anne know Mr.CBB sent you!

web search terms

Google Search terms really help me to understand what people are looking for at Canadian Budget Binder! Any typos below are simply how the person who searched Google and typed it in search incorrectly, or me ;-) Another week of thousands of search terms but only a few good ones worth mentioning.

Top Pick: CBB Mixer- No I haven’t started my own Kitchenware line yet like Mario Batali, Rachael Ray, or Jaime Oliver… I’m pacing myself. 

  • Why is Shoppers Drug Mart so expensive?- Good question, who would like to answer that for us?
  • Paid Off My Debts Using EBay- Now that would have been a nice story to hear about….
  • Men sexy- Amazing how the mention of one book brings alot of sexy here…. not that I’m complaining
  • Pasta al Pesto Mr. Loto- Nope, wrong Mr. again…
  • Money Moron Spreadsheet- Nope, wrong site, but I’m sure I can hook you up with a budget.

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PF Weekly Reading List #20- May Two-Four Victoria Day Long Weekend 2013 ~Hands Off My Cookie Jar!

Posted: May 17, 2013 in PF Weekly Reading List
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Happy Victoria Day 2013

It’s May two-four Victoria Day long weekend 2013 this weekend. It’s a way to say good-bye to winter and an official start to summer in Canada. The fun starts tonight Friday and runs until Monday May 20th evening.

Parties and a Victoria Day parades are just some of the fun attractions happening this weekend. You may also see the sky light up with many who finish off the party with scads of Victoria Day fireworks and the music cranked, especially here in the GTA!

A road trip down to Grand Bend or Wasaga Beach to cruise the strip and hang with all the party goers might be in order for many but for us we’re hanging close to home. Since I’ve lived in Canada these past few years I’ve come to realize how easy it is to tell this is the hottest weekend of the year.

When I say hot, I don’t mean as in temperature I mean it’s the weekend where Canadians are celebrating with backyard bbq’s with their friends, spring cleaning, landscaping their gardens, planting flowers. camping and the obvious pool time.

Over at Plunged In Debt, Catherine shares fun inexpensive long weekend ideas for the family. I’m sure many of you can’t wait to get started if you haven’t already. Unfortunately not everyone has the weekend off let alone the holiday Monday but make the best of it when you can. Squeeze in some “me time” and enjoy the weather with family and friends.

When I was out for my morning exercise all I could hear are the sounds of men and women hard at work. Pools were draining all over our streets as homeowners do the last-minute pool dash to get them open for the acclaimed May two-four weekend even though this year Victoria Day is Monday, May 20, 2013. I’m starting to think I need to mingle with my neighbours more so they can invite us over for a splashy pool party.

One of our mates has a hot tub that is now open but I’m nudging them towards installing a pool. That’s right, neighbourly peer pressure ha,ha. I can’t fit a pool in our yard so I’m instigating my mates to dip into their savings to dress their yard with the sparkly blue water that any friend wouldn’t mind taking a dip in.

OK, I’m not that pushy but I’ve put the idea in their ear although they’ve already thought about it and want to make use of the great backyard space that they have. I’ve always wanted a pool so who knows if this isn’t our forever house what might showing up in our backyard of a new home that we purchase.

Pools aren’t for everyone but they are great for the kids and brings people together for some fun backyard gatherings. Parents love them because it gives them time to chill out with their mates while the kiddies enjoy themselves in the pool.

Yes that means I may get a 24 case of Brave beer to celebrate with the rest of my fellow Canadians for this bank holiday in Canada which  has come to be somewhat of a celebration for me. If you want to stock up on beer and grocery items you better do it this weekend as it doesn’t look like many shops will be open Monday.

It looks like the weather will be kind to us this long weekend so lots of good times are ahead but I’ve learned in Canada weather changes as fast as the gas prices at the pump. I’ll talk more about what our plans are tomorrow in my Saturday weekend review.

Stores Open On Victoria Day

I had to do a bit of hunting to find out what was open and what was closed for Victoria Day long weekend and I found a list at 680 News for the Toronto area. For the most part though here is a list of what’s closed below but click the link to read the comprehensive list. If you are not sure if a local grocery store is open, simply give them a call before you head out.

Most grocery stores closed Victoria Day but Food Basics has some open stores as well as Home Depot but it may only be the Garden Centre that’s open.  It looks like Wal-marts are also closed but simply just make the call as the list here would be too extensive as it may vary city to city.

Closed Victoria Day:

  • LCBO and beer stores
  • Government offices
  • Libraries & schools
  • Banks will be closed
  • No garbage pick-up
  • No mail delivery
What is Victoria Day In Canada?

I thought you would never ask and don’t worry if you are not from Canada I had no idea either. If you are from Canada and you still don’tt know, time for some history lessons with Mr.CBB and Wiki. Victoria Day is a Federal Canadian Holiday celebrated the last Monday before May 25, hence the name May 2-4 weekend. It’s a stat holiday in Federally and in six of the provinces in Canada as well as the 3 territories.

You may also hear is called May Long Weekend, May Long, May two-four or May run according to wiki.  It is a celebration in honour of Queen Victoria’s Birthday. When she passed away in 1901 May 24 was made law as Victoria Day and named her day to remember our late Queen, the Mother of Confederation. It is also the Canadian’s Sovereigns official birthday.

That also means the beer is flowing all over Canada so watch out.. it’s party time! You can read more about this awesome holiday by clicking the link wiki link above.

What’s your plans for the Victoria Day Long Weekend?

A little more happiness to end my post today!

Hands Off My Cookie Jar!

Why can’t my cookie jar have a 4.85 million dollar lottery ticket in side… jealous… you bet… all I can see is crumbs in the bottom of ours since the low gi diet!! Ya, sucks but I will compromise with the wife and develop some cookie recipes she can enjoy. The Mrs. does store all her lottery tickets in her purse, that’s her giant cookie jar and hardly checks them. No big wins here I’m afraid but you can’t win if you don’t play.

One man makes truth out of that this week… Some dude named Richard Cerezo in Geneva Ill. was cleaning out his cookie jar filled with lottery tickets. Soon after he heads to his local 7-eleven and finds out he has to fill out a claim form, meaning he’s won over $600.

He heads home to check his lucky ticket to find out the crumbs in his cookie jar were worth 4.85 million and best of it is, he won this months ago and didn’t know it. Check your tickets folks!! Consequently he was going into foreclosure on his home. Sometimes it does make you wonder if things happen for a reason or if they are, what they are…. pure luck!

I always enjoy hearing happy stories like this!

PF WEEKLY READING LIST

Here is this weeks reading list which includes some of the best blog posts from many blogs that I interact and comment on and who also have a common interest in CBB.

Mr. CBB’s Top Read of The Week

A Sure Fire Way To Be More Productive- Prairie Eco-Thrifter

Top 7 Blog Posts Of The Week

Some great reads from blogs I follow!

Recipes/Frugal Blog Posts of the Week
Top Recipe

layered ranch dip

This weeks recipe is a Layered Ranch Dip which is perfect for the long weekend parties that will be happening. The dip come from my friends at Real House Moms! Enjoy this and happy dipping.

Inspirational: Your Credit Cards Are Now Paid Off, How Do You Stay Out Of Debt?- Eyes On The Dollar

Life Lessons: What are your secret confessions? Tonya at Beach Budget shares the secrets she holds inside with all of us. 

Entertaining and/or Educational: Important College Considerations and Conversations- The Heavy Purse

Unique/Odd/Different: When Pigs Fly: How I Fought My Parking Ticket And Beat City Hall- Len Penzo

Investing: Is Coca Cola The Perfect Dividend Paying Stock?- My Own Advisor

Enjoy your Victoria Day Long Weekend Everyone!!~ Mr.CBB

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