pierreenverre submitted:
City Life, by JaceStone
Seattle Skyline at Night
January 17th
5:55 PM
5:55 PM
Ron Paul…
…A hypocrite yet unseen to the world
or
a Hero?
5:51 PM
Extra Income Online: 5 Websites That Can Seriously Pad Your Pockets
With the national unemployment rate creeping toward 10%, it’s fair to reason that some of us could use extra cash.
Frankly, even if you’ve still got a 9-to-5, more money in the bank is never a bad thing. Instead of taking on a second, or in some cases, third job to elevate your earnings, consider making use of these websites that can take you from rags to debatable riches.
Craigslist
Craigslist has long been a freelancer’s dream, and there are always tons of projects listed in every region that are ripe for the picking. But the classifieds site isn’t just for scoping out potential work. Think about the converse, too — placing ads touting your services. For instance, I run a home-based copywriting and creative consulting business on a limited advertising budget. To expose myself to prospective clients who are seeking someone like me, I create posts in relevant sections describing my capabilities. As a result, I receive at least one inquiry a week, many of which have turned into steady work.
Otherwise, Craigslist is a great way to get rid of unwanted-but-still-valuable junk. Whenever my husband and I upgrade any device — like our iPhones — we list the old ones on Craigslist. They’ve sold quickly every time and at the listed price, which is set at what we paid for the new devices. To be honest, there’s a buyer for just about anything you list, so long as the item is desirable and in good-to-great condition. Best of all, you get the full amount of your proposed price (even if you have to negotiate here and there), whereas you’ll have to pay listing and other fees elsewhere.
Airbnb
Let me start by saying that I think Airbnb is one of the best new websites in recent years — and I’m not the only one: the San Francisco-based startup recently received $7.2 million in Series A funding from investors. The concept is so simple, too, that it makes you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
The concept is that if you have extra space in your home, you can turn it into guest quarters for tourists who will pay you to stay there. All you have to do is list your vacant room, add photos, and complete a profile. Airbnb does the rest, including blocking off reserved dates on your calendar to avoid double bookings and holding rental fees in escrow until guests arrive, at which time you can have the funds sent via check or direct deposit.
In the interest of full disclosure, we’ve been listing our guest bedroom on Airbnb since its launch in February 2009. To date, we’ve made more than $19,000 in extra income (that we duly pay taxes on, by the way. Don’t get all hot and bothered, IRS). It’s become such a success for us that my neighbors have hired me to manage their properties on the site, resulting in even more dough in my pocket because I charge them a percentage. Winner-winner, chicken dinner.
I thought it was going to be one of those terribe articles “get paid to collect surveys” but this has actually proved to be really useful. Highly reccomended!
“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(via fuckyeahdrugpolicy)
Related: My post on Disregarding on Unjust Laws.
Bishr bin as-Sirri said: “Verily, each verse is like a date: the more you chew it, the more of its sweetness is released.” Abu Sulayman heard this and commented: “True. It is the case with one of you that if he begins one chapter of it, he wants to read it to the end.”
(‘al-Hadith fi ‘Ulum al-Qur’an’; p. 70)
Ye Olde Fashion: A few notes on inflation...
I’ve received so many comments regarding the price of clothing in the Sears catalog ads I’ve posted recently that I thought it might be a good idea to clear a few things up.
First and foremost…
Clothing was not cheaper in the past. In fact it was generally quite the opposite. Prices for the least expensive, mass-produced clothing in the 1910s would be roughly equivalent to what you would expect to pay at a high end department store today.
As an example: In the mid-1910s an average woman’s coat from the Sears catalog would run you upwards of $400 when adjusted for inflation. Higher quality Sears coats could top $1,000. If you were looking for a designer coat or one imported from Paris you could easily expect to drop $5,000+ for a fairly basic model.
Two major reasons for the higher cost of clothing in the past were the absence of artificial/man-made fabrics and the lack of the cheap overseas labor which is so widely used today (this was enforced by ridiculously high import taxes on clothing and on fashion materials and accessories).
I can go into this in more detail in the future if there is any interest, but for now I thought I’d just put the basic information out there for you.
Secondly…
With the exception of a brief period following the Civil War, the purchasing power of the dollar stayed at a modern equivalent of roughly $20-$25 for most of the 19th and early 20th century. This means that to roughly estimate the price of anything thing from that time period (approx. 1830-1915) you can simply add a zero and double it.
A quick example for those bad at math (most notably myself): Using a $1.00 little girl’s dress from this 1915 Sears catalog page I posted. If you add a zero it becomes $10.00. Double it, it becomes $20.00, which would be your final price roughly adjusted for inflation. Pretty reasonably priced, even for today. (Although it is worth noting that it is among the least expensive dresses available.)
Just to be clear… the add a zero and double it technique should only be used to give you a very rough idea of the price. If you would like a more exact conversion or need to convert something outside of the 1830-1915 era I would suggest using this site, which has a very lovely and easy to use inflation calculator.
I think in the future when I post something with a listed price I am may include the inflation adjusted price just for reference and to prevent any confusion. :)
