Posts Tagged ‘Saturday Weekend Review’

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

Posted: May 18, 2013 in The Saturday Weekly Review
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1

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.

Money_quote

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The Saturday Weekend Review #19- Mothering Sunday Is Mother’s Day!

Posted: May 11, 2013 in The Saturday Weekly Review
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
15

he Saturday Weekly Review

Mothering Sunday is what we call Mother’s Day in the UK, the equivalent of Mother’s Day In Canada and other places around the world. In the UK Mothering Sunday is always celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

In 2013 Mothering Sunday in the UK (Mother’s Day UK) was celebrated on March 10, 2013 where Mother’s Day in Canada and the USA is celebrated on the second Sunday in May which is May 12, 2013. I call my mother my mum where in Canada my wife says her mom. I try to stick to mom so I don’t confuse people but sometimes I forget but I’m sure you all get it. We only celebrate Mother’s Day during the Canadian celebration date and my mom is fine with that.

Some day soon she will get me in the flesh and blood as we hope to make a trip back to the UK very soon. We are hoping to plan something very special maybe visiting our friends in Spain, Germany and Italy. Yes. I will take lots of photos when we go and make sure we hook up with the best eats around. I’ve been to many places in this world but the wife has only been to a handful of countries so I want to plan something special for her so we can celebrate our time together.

My wife had never heard of Mothering Sunday but that is what we call it and it’s a celebration of our mother. My mother loves flowers so I would always get her a bouquet of mixed spring flowers and a card as a mother’s day gift. Flowers in the UK are a must for anyone with a garden, well at least in our house they were and still are at my parents.

I have a passion for gardening especially growing flowers of all descriptions because flowers to me symbolize so much in my life especially memories. My mothers knowledge of the the Latin flower names is brilliant in which she taught me. My wife tells me it’s  sexy hearing me name the flowers. I’m no pro by any means but I can spot flowers and tell you what they are but am always willing to learn. We also grow many vegetables from seed and continue to grow our organic garden a bit more each year.

I’m always getting creative finding ways to grow flowers and vegetables in a small space so I built wooden garden boxes and have the wooden barrel that I found and restored as well that I will put to good use. The compost heap is overflowing and it’s pretty much supplied all the nutritious soil that I will need this year.

I still have many bags of rotting leaves to dump in. The most important part about gardening is protecting your investment and educating yourself about how to care for your plants and even finding out the type of soil you have in your garden.

As you know I don’t often get to see my mom but I do speak to her on the phone quite regularly. Mother’s Day for me is just another day because I celebrate love and life with my mom every time I think of her, talk to her and see her. Now that I’m older and understand life a lot more than when I was a kid, especially about finances I can see how much love, effort and support my parents put in to give us kids the life they did.

We don’t have a large garden but I do get around to planting some flowers here and there as well as beautiful hanging baskets which I will have out later next month. Not all of our flowers are out yet but they are coming out in full force. In our garden today I have some Lavandula, Lilies, Tulips, White Geranium which bloomed all winter indoors, Gerbera Daisy and Hostas. I also have a sneak peek below at our figs and our incredible rhubarb that is growing so fast.

I’m going to need to start experimenting with Rhubarb more in the CBB kitchen this year so expect some new recipes to come your way. Tomorrow I will be sharing my Toasted Coconut Custard Tarts with Whipped Cream something I know my mother would enjoy with a hot cuppa tea! So to celebrate Mother’s Day I share some flowers from our garden into your home for all the Mother’s and Mom’s to be… Happy Mother’s Day 2013!

Mother’s Day 2013
Happy Mothers Day 2013 I love you

Mothering Sunday

Rhubarb 2013 wm

Lavandula 2013 wm

2013 Figs From My Garden

Hostas 2013 wm

Canadian Budget Binder Weekly Review

Hot Posts Of The Week

Canadian Budget Binder’s Weekly Blog Posts

The CBB Blog Post Bundle… just for you!

I also had a guest post this week at My Personal Finance Journey-Budget and The Beast, Can They Work Together?

Making A Difference

Making A Difference Frugal Rules 2

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’m pleased to bring to you John from Frugal Rules who I have had the pleasure of networking with for many months now. You can catch John nightly posting his dinner on my Facebook page- What’s For Dinner post and interacting with my fans. I agree with John when he says that comments from the fans shows that he’s making a difference. John has always taken the time to chat and throw ideas around with me and  he’s certainly a PF blogger with a great online presence and personality with lots to say…. so let me introduce to you… Frugal Rules!

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share the vision and passion fueling Frugal Rules. There are an abundance of personal finance blogs providing helpful information and opinions; what sets Frugal Rules apart is the holistic view of money I try to promote with every piece of content I write.

Where others focus on investing or couponing or even budgeting, Frugal Rules presents a broader view of what your money can do for you. I try to help others by sharing my own exodus from credit card debt and journey toward financial freedom so they can avoid making the same destructive financial mistakes I made.

I’ve discovered that most financial mistakes are made from ignorance so I try to help others by educating about a wide range of financial topics, all with the ultimate goal of showing others how to enjoy freedom from debt and develop a plan for the future that will keep them from having to work until they drop. I do my best to respond to every comment and question readers submit.

Their responses show me I’m making a difference. I care deeply about helping others, particularly my own children as well as future generations to manage their money wisely and make it work for them. While it’s a lot of work, creating, managing and publishing content for Frugal Rules is the most rewarding work I’ve ever done.

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

Only a few carnivals took on CBB this week, thanks for sharing I’ll always remember!

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: Italian Pooding…. self explanatory but I did get a good laugh out of it… make sure you stretch the word….like Pooooding…. for the full effect. 

  • How Many Weight Watchers Points Are In A spudnut- My guess… lots! (That’s a donut for all of you scratching your heads)
  • Cana dian Bu dget Bin der- Let’s just see if it will work if we leave spaces in between… pass me another cold one would ya!
  • Not enough money to run business this month- Sounds like someone has decisions to make
  • Ways to Save Water on Rainy Days- Besides using a rain barrel or a bucket if you really want to save a free shower is a free shower.. grab the soap and get at it.
  • How To Formulate A Sausage- Hmmmm … I’ll just leave that one alone

Quote-Budget and Money

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