Are We Deceiving the Children?

Where did we get this concept that summers are a time of living carefree? You know, those lazy, hazy days of summer?

These long days of summer are to be enjoyed, but this mentality of 3 months of doing nothing but fun in the sun is wrong.

Summers should actually be our busiest time. This is the time to sow, weed, water and harvest.

Back in the agricultural days kids took a break from “school” to be able to help work the family fields and farms. They understood the work that it took to keep everyone alive.

Building a Family Economy - Photography

Photography is a great way to add to your family’s economy. It is something that can start out small scale and grow. If you are really good at it it can be a lucrative business.

Photography is also something that you can run as a home based business. Start out by offering some free sessions to build up a portfolio. With the age of social media word of mouth is the best advertising you can get. If your work is good and your prices are reasonable you’ll have work.

The Work of Our Hands - A Two Wedding Weekend

One of our family income streams is catering.

It’s small scale.

The big money maker are the cakes,

but with that comes TONS of stress!

For the first time I took on two catering jobs on the same day.

I knew we could do it if I planned really carefully!

This was only because I have enough adult kids that really want to work it! For years my kids have been drug along to many catering jobs (usually with pay), their heart not always in it, but they had to do it none the less…because we are a family and this is what we do. But now after years (a life-time) of training, they are truly skilled and are willing to be a part, and they are making some decent money; that’s always a good motivator! And now to have a capable son-in-law we can do more. I was able to leave one adult (married) child at home with the young children. One adult child at one wedding, along with 2 hired teen-aged friends. And then Jeff, my very skilled son-in-law Josh, and myself worked the second wedding. We did 500 servings of food!

How to Build a Family Economy - Dandelion Threads/Giveaway

Today I’d like you to meet my friend Mim. I asked her to share a little about her online business she runs from her home. Don’t miss the giveaway and discount below.

I am mum to a busy little boy, wife to an incredibly handsome hubby, and keeper of our happy little home. Since the birth of our son I have been dipping my fingers into various creative ponds, including quilling, card-making, sewing, gardening, knitting, music and baking - not all as successful as some!

Great Economies are Built by Families Who Know How to Work

“Great economies are built by families who know how to work, and who will invest the thousands of hours and 15-20 years required to train their sons in the character trait of diligence. Nations are built, one son at a time. And nations come apart, one son at a time.” ~Douglas French

We had a wedding to cater Saturday night, actually, this was Olivia’s job and I worked for her this time. To be honest it was nice to step back and let her much younger mind and body handle the pressure. 😉

Real Stories of Young Entrepreneurs - Make Your Hobby Your Business

I’ve talked about my friend Ben Wagner, a couple times on here. He is an exceptional young man that is living against the culture.

Ben has a love for antique tractors, I’ve written about it before, here and here!

Ben, who is 19 years old, is using his knowledge, skills and passion for tractors to generate some income.

Successful entrepreneurs will tell you that you have to have several streams of income. Ben is also pursuing some other means to establish himself, which includes college studies using College Plus. but I especially love that he is keeping his love for these tractors alive and that he is doing something he enjoys.

Website Course for Free

If you ever wanted to know how to design a website here is a solution. A Microsoft programmer is offering a course at no charge.

This would be great for your kids too. Anything that can increase their skill level is good. Anything that can increase their ability to work from home is even better!

“Combine these skills with online marketing skills,

and you will always eat.”

1 Way Grown Stay-at-Home Daughters Make Money

Olivia has decided to make coupon/deal shopping for our family her part time job. The thing about a job is that you have to be committed, you have to do it even if you don’t ‘feel’ like it. I have shopped the deals from time to time, and there really is no excuse for why I don’t do it now, other than TIME. But if I were on Facebook less and surf the deals more I could make it work (there is today’s confession).

It All Sounds Good on Paper

It’s usually easy to come up with a plan. I personally love developing plans because I am a visionary by nature.

Plans are necessary if you have a goal and want to obtain it whether it be:

and so on…

And then…

comes reality…

the part where you roll up your sleeves…

and you start chiseling away at your plan…

it is usually dirty work, painful work, but necessary work.

Building a Family Economy - Auto Mechanics

In our culture automobiles are a necessary evil. Okay, maybe they are not “evil” but when you have break downs you’ll think they are!

Both of our vehicles have had issues lately. The mechanic gave us a price of $1000-$1500 to fix our van…OUCH! Jeff knows a good bit about auto- mechanics and repairs, but some things are a bit much, not to mention having the right tools. Jeff’s brother is a mechanic in up-state New York, he has been walking Jeff through ‘what to do next’ over the phone…Praise the Lord!