Oily Rag - Frugal Millionaires

Oily Rag - Frugal Millionaires

By Frank and Muriel Newman

We, like most people, are curious to know from people who are financially very successful, how they achieved their success. Fortunately, the answer is usually much more mundane than one sees in the movies. It’s usually about service with a smile, enthusiasm and optimism; a frugal eye on costs, and investing generously in things that increase sales.

This same approach applies to households - if you live frugally, you will be able to accumulate a nest-egg so your money works for you instead of you working for money. Frugal households use these principles to make the most of their dollars - you want to make your dollars and your time as productive as they can possibly be.

Here are some tips to turn your household into a thriving business.

· Turn your hobbies into money spinners. Keen gardeners could sell surplus produce at a growers market or swap it for things you would otherwise pay cash for – like maintenance on your house or car. If you enjoy painting or art, offer your work for sale to friends or on the internet. Make an exhibition of yourself and your work then invite friends and family around to for a viewing (and hopefully buying). It’s so easy to sell your creations online via trading sites, and listing is free!

· One reader takes part in online surveys. She says sometimes she gets rewarded with points that can be redeemed for gift vouchers and other times the payment is in cash.

· If you like gardening, when your plants grow big, divide them and pot them up and sell them online. A green fingered oily ragger from Whangarei propagated the seeds from an ornamental banana plant in their garden and sold them online for $15 each. A nice little cash bonus that cost nothing but a little bit of TV time.

· We also notice a lot of used golf balls for sale online, which reminded us of this tip: “How about gathering golf balls - water traps are the best so put on your wet suit and get into it. But be careful as the tale of one good keen oily ragger from the UK shows. He plunged the depths, retrieving up to 1200 golf balls at a time. At around 50 cents each for poor quality balls it was a nice little earner. But his initiative landed him in jail. He got sentenced to 6 months for theft, but after a public outcry was released after only 9 days! The moral of the story: there's money in golf balls, but ask first!”

· V.M. from Levin writes, “If you have time, enter online competitions at winstuff.co.nz. Also if there's a competition in the paper or on a chocolate wrapper enter it. I have won loads of stuff over the years. From prams to make up, label clothing and more. Lucky Break and That's Life are very generous and have sent me cheques for photos I sent by email and forgot about! Not only do your children get published in a magazine, you get $50! My children have also won prizes from these magazines. Go for it – it’s fun and it’s great receiving prizes in the post!”

· Or make the most of your spare time. A reader says, “I taught children to play the recorder for 25 years. The last 10 years were the most enjoyable because small groups of children came to my home for lessons. There were no distractions or pressures, no parents hovering nearby. There was time for fun as well as tuition. Home tutoring is nothing new - but it is particularly effective when it takes place in the tutor's home and the pupil does not feel his parent's worries, hopes, and ambitions on their shoulders. All kinds of tuition would be successful if conducted in the tutor's home, not the pupils home - both adults and children could benefit. Reading, computer skills, confidence building, making party desserts, anything.”

· Lots of oily raggers have coin jars. It’s amazing how quickly the money builds up to become hundreds of dollars.

By concentrating on household needs not wants and focusing on getting the very best value from every dollar spend, you can turn cents into dollars, and those dollars become a nest-egg that will keep providing for you forever (if the nest-egg is not raided!).

Do you have a favourite money-making tip to share with readers? If so, please send it to us at www.oilyrag.co.nz or write to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei.

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