Synopsis of June 30th Blog Talk Radio Show… with links!

For the past year I’ve had the privilege of being the guest of Donna Miller, MillersGrainHouse.com and YourPreparationStation.com, on her Blog Talk Radio program on the last Saturday of each month.

Saturday, June 30^th’s show focused on Preparedness for Today – And the 4 P’s of Preparedness – Predictions, Possibility, Probability, and Personal.

If you were listening to the show, you know I said I would write up a synopsis providing all the links I mentioned. If you weren’t listening, you can print this post and keep it handy after you listen to the show. The links I reference are below are ones I use a lot and they do work… I’ve tried all the methods and don’t talk about things I haven’t done myself!

Here is the link to the show, if you missed it!:

Alright, in order to move forward you should apply the 4 P’s… Predictions, Possibility, Probability, and Personal ™. Each one of these categories you can work through the 4 P’s and use the links provided or suggestions to help yourself today.

Finances:

Do you need an extra income stream? Do you have something to write about, talk about, or sell… Here are some tips!

• Selling on eBay, Amazon, or Zen Cart are options. With Zen Cart you can create your own online store but you will have to pay hosting charges.
• Flea Markets are great for selling – Get cash for stuff you no longer need!
• Photography – some magazines actually pay you for your photographs as well as RedBubble.com (you can google “magazines that pay you for photographs”) or just post some of your best photographs on there. I’ve sold several, being an amateur photographer! The system does work!
• Writing – I get most of my writing assignments through Odesk.com and there are various other avenues for writers or really for anyone with a topic to talk about! Odesk is great avenue for writers, graphic designers, and other freelancers.
• My suggestions for other sites I’m associated with are: About.com, and Yahoo Contributors. Most of these are paid based on how many views your article gets, but overall it does add up and it’s a residual income.
• If you have a website or are planning one, check out EzineArticles.com and Amazon Affiliates. Ezine allows you to link back to your website for increased traffic and potential sales you may have affiliate links for and Amazon allows you to run specific ad’s or simply add a search box. Any purchase a visitor makes, you earn 4% of the total. I have Amazon links on my blog and so far, the money is starting to accumulate. It takes awhile because you have to have traffic to your site to being with!
• Write an ebook and host it on Payloadz.com – this is a FREE service, up to a certain amount of sales per month. It’s for digital downloads and works great – this is where my “Get Prepared – Shop Smart and Coupon” e-book is hosted.
• What about your local consignment store? Most people, as I stated on the radio show, think consignment stores are just for “stuff” you have lying around the house that you no longer need. Actually, this is a system that you CAN make WORK for you…. Tips are in the radio program… but how do you find consignment stores local to you? Try Craigslist.org or Whitepages.com. Most consignment shop owners have a website that will be shown on Whitepages.com – visit the site and see what the requirements for consigning are. This is a great way to create an income stream! And please be reminded, there are consignment stores that specialize in just about every area… antiques, women’s clothing, children’s needs, and sporting goods. Whatever you have or find – there’s a consignment store for it!

So there are all my tried and true methods for creating income. Get creative or just follow what I just suggested! It works!

Let’s move on to Food and Building Skill Sets – I’m going to throw these two together!

Most all preparedness websites you see encouragement to learn to grow your own food! Why is this? Well, remember the 4 P’s of Preparedness? Food prices are on the increase – with corn being the forerunner this year! Here are some tips and links to conquering and overcoming high prices and learning skills:

• If cast iron cooking interests you – visit your local flea market. You can typically buy an 8” – 10” skillet for around $5 – $10 in my area. Here’s a site of local flea markets that is searchable by state or just google “local flea market directory” and you’ll be blessed with several. Why pay the post office upwards of $20 to deliver a cast iron skillet to you from ebay? Support your local folks, please!
• If you have absolutely no means of growing you own food; you can support your local farmers market or join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The link provided will allow you to search, by zip code, for your local farmers markets or CSA’s.
• If you don’t know what to grow, here’s a tip. Buy a Ball Blue Book and look at the recipes for things you normally buy at the grocery. These books are available on ebay, amazon, or at your local nursery for under $10. This way you’ll know what to plant so you can prepare foods that you eat. You can also use this book to direct you in the right direction of what to purchase at the farmer’s market.
• Are you curious on how to store food; dehydrate, can, preserve or cook food? Then local classes are an options or webinars! See, the internet makes everything so much easier! Try craigslist.com and use search terms as local homestead class, canning classes, preserving food class. Here’s a recent find of mine while doing just that:
• Some great local classes, webinars, and DVD’s are available from several respected sources: MillersGrainHouse.com offers in person classes on topics from learning to use a dutch oven, milling your own flour, or dehydrating foods, etc. Two other sources I’ve used in the past are PreparednessPro.com and TheSurvivalMom.com. Both of the later ladies are doing in-person classes in the west (Arizona and Utah) whereas Donna, from Millers Grain House, does hers in western NC. All of the above have or will have online resources available now or in the near future. I too, will begin my online classes soon where we will talk about the 4 P’s of Preparedness and how to move from being a weekly grocery shopper … all to get you moving in the right direction! That will be up and out in July! Stay tuned at PreppingOnABudget.com!
• A quick glimpse and search at Craigslist.org may also produce local classes as a resent search did for me; keyword search: canning class
• A great resource for anyone in NC is NCPreppers.com. I don’t know where Vina8 comes up with all these excellent resources but she is constantly posting FREE classes around the state! Check her out!

I hope all these tips and links can help you get started or move you in a more forward direction all the while working within a budget!