Tuesday, January 13, 2009

getting out of debt anyway we can

so i've been thinking alot about our debt that we have, and john and i both want to be debt free. i want it so badly, that lately i've been roaming the house for things to sell...lol. and i've had some success, but well, only 2 things out of 15 or so sold, so i'm thinking of other ways to try and bring in extra income. 

i've made bows in the past, and been successful at it, but i have run out of people who are interested, so i'd have to search them out, and it's almost not fun for me anymore. (it's been about 8 months since i've made one!) plus, i hardly have the time to do it what with 2 kids that want my attention...and it just seems like for the amount of time it takes me to make one bow, the profit i make isn't worth it. 

i thought about making and selling cloth diapers...not hard, takes about an hour for one, but only make about 6 bucks per diaper...or 6 bucks an hour??? no thank you.

so what else am i good at that i am confident enough marketing to everyone else, and furthermore, with everyone tightening their budgets, what would people be willing to buy?? well, my thought was food. no matter the price, people need food, no way around it. and the weathly workers will pay for good food. so, i make a mean lasagna....i've never had anyone who has tried it tell me anything different from it being some of the best they've had... so i could put together a lasagna lunch, with a piece of lasagna, a roll or two and a piece of brownie or a few cookies...all of this would be homemade of course...and i could sell it for a set price... scout out the doctors offices' and the pharmacies...and with the calculations i've made, with selling two trays worth of lasagna (the number of lunches vary depending on the serving size of lasagna) i could make about $80 profit. the prep and cook time would be 4-5 hours for making lasagna, rolls, and brownies or cookies. 

i keep going over in my head how i could do this...am i crazy for thinking about such a commitment? and would there be any stay-at-home mom's interested in helping me accomplish this and get paid?

if i'm not crazy and you think it might be a success, are there any suggestions for other "lunch" type meals i could rotate between?

3 comments:

Jamie Hamilton said...

Red beans and rice is really cheap and you can cook it in a slow cooker. That might be a meal you could put into the rotation. By the way, I think that's a good idea. You might try schools (teachers can't leave for lunch). There were always teachers aids at the schools that I worked at that would make and bring lunches on Fridays and they would make plenty of money. You could usually choose between red or white beans and rice, fried chicken, or fried catfish. They all came with a salad or other vegetable, bread, and a dessert.

Jessica said...

Just be careful that you actually make money and it is worth it. You have to buy food storage containers and the food and the electricity and all that. It's a great idea though.

Jenn said...

That's how Paula Deen got started. I should let you borrow her cookbook where she tells her story. It think you are headed in the right direction. Also along with the idea of where to go for the plate lunches might I suggest banks. Jones Creek has a lot and they usually only get 30 min for lunch. I was going to suggest Red Beans, also Jambalaya. Rice is soooo cheap. If only I was a stay at home mom with you, we could sooo get this going. :) Maybe one day, but I'm sure by then you will be in Utah or in school.