Wednesday 29 February 2012

Groceries Plan


My Plan to Reduce the Groceries Budget:
1. Rough Meal Plan
2. Order online as per the Rough Meal Plan
3. Keep Receipt and Online Record
4. Review Online Record to see what brands could be substituted
5. Review Online Record to see what could be made at home (google: make your own Washing Up Liquid; Make your own Biscuit etc)

6. Live through that week’s meal plan and review. Where were we short, where were we over?
7. On 2nd week aim to beat current lowest price paid for items.
8. On items with a longer life, aim to buy in bulk and store.
9. Aim to reduce bill weekly. Once the weekly bill has levelled out, aim to beat the all time record.

Using a "Buy Back" Website to acquire stock


  This guy was clever:

Here's how I get most of my inventory:
It's not book sales

It's not thrift stores

It's not department stores using an Android

It's not orders via wholesale
I get my inventory delivered to me directly from people's homes.
Sound too good to be true?
I own and operate a buyback site called BuybackMedia.com. Basically, I buy DVDs, CDs, and Games from people all over the US. Once they send them to me, I pay them, and then send the product to Amazon FBA.
The price offered is based on a percentage of Amazon's price. So, I'm guaranteed to make money on every transaction.

The only kicker is advertising. It normally costs money to get eyeballs to the site. I also pay an 18% licensing fee per item "bought back" to the software company behind my website.

Interested in getting your own buyback site?
You have a couple options:
1) Go to elance.com and hire a designer/programmer to make a website.
2) Make me an offer for Buyback Media. I'm considering selling the website. Obviously, I will be asking for a premium price since this is my primary source of inventory.


From my POV I think my area of speciality (Non Fiction books) might be too specific. Who knows? It may well be worth getting some quotes on Elance.

Monday 27 February 2012

The Singing Handyman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUURwZMpfFw

I came across “The Singing Handyman” for the first time on Saturday. Having got back to my Laptop and checked him out on Youtube etc, from what I can gather this geezer drives around London City Centre in an Old Fashioned Van, singing hits and blowing bubbles out of the side of the van. I must say that he did draw a crowd. I found myself reaching into my pocket to throw a quid in his bucket – but then I found out that he didn’t collect cash at all. It seems that the whole thing is just a publicity stunt for the handyman.co.uk website.


This got me thinking. If you had any fancy vehicle, such as an Ice Cream Van, Red Double Decker Bus – even a Hearse (in certain circumstances), and you wired it up with a Bubble Machine and a Karaoke system, you could hire yourself out for events (the Hearse would obviously be for Marilyn Manson concerts or something like that!)

Imagine how cool it would be to get a souped up Ice Cream Van to appear at a Kids Party. The Van could come down the street blowing bubbles and blaring out the Kid’s Favourite tune and then park up outside the party to present the Kids with a cone each. Or, you could time it for the van to do a drive past Wedding Venues singing the Bride and Groom’s favourite song.

I love it!

Sunday 26 February 2012

and the Oscar goes to........


Note for next year: Most of the Oscar Winners are leaked before the ceremony.


Betting Profit & Loss

Ross Taylor 27-Feb-2012 06:23
Special Bets: £57.04 Total P&L: £57.04

Special Bets Showing 1 - 11 of 11 markets



Market Start time Settled date Profit/loss (£)

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Best Picture

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 04:36 10.33

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Leading Actor

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 04:18 10.40

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Best Director

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 03:54 3.34

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Original Song

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 03:18 14.14

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Supporting Actor

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 03:01 4.22

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Animated Feature Film

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 02:47 2.51

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Sound Mixing

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 02:28 7.52

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Sound Editing

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 02:26 13.77

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Supporting Actress

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 02:12 7.38

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Costume Design

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 01:56 -22.00

Special Bets / Oscars 2012 : Art Direction

27-Feb-12 01:30 27-Feb-12 01:45 5.43

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Magnificent 77

   I've now had 77 winning football bets on the trot. If I get past 100 I'll have to consider becoming a Professional Gambler!!

Only in America?

Boogeyman For Hire?


On December 11, 2010, in Odd, by Jason Bax ....Would you hire someone to call and scare the crap out of your kids? How about it was just $5?



HIre the Boogeyman to Scare Your Children for $5

This is a creative but weird advertising. Hey, you gotta test different business ideas, right?



Hire the boogeyman to scare the living crap out of your kids for just $5. Sounds like a good deal to me. BUT how much for all the sleepless nights and therapy?



Lorraine had 2 orders for her ‘Boogeyman calling’ service.



Hey, maybe I should charge $5 to call and BS with you for 5 min.

Friday 17 February 2012

Sneaky Bastard

   After keeping my eye on People Per Hour, Elance and Odesk over the last few months I think that for people like us, with no programming experience, the most lucrative option would be writing the business plans. There are always jobs advertising for this. There are plenty of videos on Youtube showing you how to right business plans. I’d probably start by getting a few done for me and use these as my exemplars when I go touting for business myself.




The other sideline is that you could probably copy anything really exciting for yourself!

Sunday 12 February 2012

A great weekend on Betfair

Betting Profit & Loss


Ross Taylor 12-Feb-2012 18:47
Football: £48.58
Golf: £3.13
Rugby Union: £30.74
Tote:
Total P&L: £82.45

Saturday 11 February 2012

Kentucky Fried Success

   Thanks to the guys at kentucky for my free meal voucher today - much appreciated!

Saturday 4 February 2012

Back in the Black on Betfair

   It's now been over 3 weeks and 40 best since I had a loser on the Football. Nice. #discipline.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Bed and Breakfast, and Yoga

   It seems nowadays that you can't run a B&B without having some sort of gimmick. My personal favourites would be to a) run a B&B which prided itself on serving the biggest Breakfast in Scotland, or b) run a B&B with optional Hill Walking tours.


Some classic B&B ideas from today's Independent:
What's the attraction?

The British B&B has seen an improvement in standards that means that, for many guests, they've become the preferred alternative to a hotel, offering more character, more personal service and often a lower price tag. A recent poll by TripAdvisor revealed that eight of the world's top 10 B&Bs are British, including the chart-topping The Twenty One in Brighton (01273 686450; thetwentyone.co.uk; doubles from £90).

Good B&B listings sites include Sawday's (sawdays.co.uk) and the AA (theaa.com). It's also worth checking enjoyengland.com, visitscotland.com and visitwales.co.uk.

Belly-busting breakfasts

Though many bed and breakfasters wouldn't feel they'd had their money's worth unless they'd tucked into the full monty, others are relishing increasingly exotic breakfasts. Amid the kitsch surroundings of Upton House (01726 832732; upton-house.com; doubles from £130) in Cornwall for instance, décor is as restrained as a Fabergé egg and breakfasts boast heart-shaped waffles and caramelised-banana porridge.

At Montague House in Norfolk (01263 822510; montague-house.co.uk ; doubles from £80), freshly made smoothies are followed by red pepper and feta frittata, devilled kidneys or blueberry pancakes.

Further north, breakfasts at 2 Cambridge Street in Edinburgh (0131 478 0005; edinburghaccommodation.org.uk ; doubles from £95) offer raspberries, yoghurt and passion fruit followed by chestnut mushrooms on toast, with lemon, nutmeg and melted Taleggio cheese.

If your tastes are slightly more conventional, there's The Spoons on Skye (01470 532217; thespoonsonskye.com ; doubles from £115), which serves up homemade granola and freshly cooked pancakes, as well as local kippers. Likewise, at Hedgehog Corner in Devon (01297 32036; hedgehogcorner.co.uk ; doubles from £70), the local breakfast menu features eggs Benedict and waffles.

Pampering for pets

Many B&Bs welcome animals. At The Old Cider House in Somerset (01278 732228; theoldciderhouse.co.uk ), pooches even get home-made dog biscuits. Doubles start at £60, plus £3 per dog. For other dog-friendly B&Bs see kcdogfriendly.co.uk or dogfriendlybritain.co.uk . The website horseswelcome.org lists B&Bs for visitors with horses in tow, including Cwmfillo in Powys (01982 570355; cwmfillo.co.uk). Doubles cost from £60, and horses are well catered for with stabling from £10 per night and organic hay at £3 per bale.

Olympic hospitality

In the week when 120,000 hotel rooms were handed back by Locog, the organising committee for the London 2012 Games, the accommodation scene in London in July and August looks increasingly competitive. If you're willing to stay in a private home try sites such as crashpadder.com, wimdu.co.uk and 9flats.com . Wimdu, for example, is showing availability for a smart double room in a Georgian family home in Peckham in early August for £60 per night, including continental breakfast. And the Good Hotel Guide strays beyond its title, also recommending traditional B&Bs.

Pedal power

At Cottage Lodge in the New Forest (01590 622296; cottagehotel.org), green features include breakfasts sourced from the surrounding area, renewable energy and free tea and cake for guests arriving by train. Book into the Standing Hat room, an environmentally-friendly double built from local Douglas Fir that comes with its own wood burning stove, a four-poster made from locally felled beech, bamboo flooring and, from this month, an LED TV that guests can power by pedalling a bike. The room starts at £80 per night.

Hands-on holidays

Many B&Bs now offer short courses. In the Lake District, Number 43 (01524 762761; no43.org.uk ; doubles from £120) is running an Introduction to Photography course on 29 and 30 June. These cost £400 per person, including two nights' full board and two days' tuition. If food is your passion, head to Brompton Farmhouse in Shropshire (01743 761629; bromptonfarmhouse.co.uk), where doubles cost from £70. Guests can book in for day-long cookery courses. Prices start at £110 for a bread-making class (01743 761629; bromptoncookeryschool.co.uk).

Fit for purpose

The old school of thought that it doesn't really matter where you stay on holiday because it's just a place to sleep doesn't hold up these days. At Blackloch B&B (01250 884249; blackloch.com) in Perthshire, guests can take off for a hearty day's walk and then book in for a tailored yoga session with owner Anne Lonsdale in a designated yoga studio attached to the B&B. Rates start at £80 per double; 90-minute private yoga sessions for two cost £75. The Orange Tree B&B (01751 417 219; theorangetree.com) on the Yorkshire Moors also offers yoga weekends, from £199 per person.

Smiles as standard

You'd think a warm welcome was as much a part of the B&B mindset as providing quality bacon and clean sheets, but it isn't always the case. One place you can be assured of a positive reception is Compton House in Nottinghamshire (01636 708670; comptonhousenewark.com; doubles from £90). Its owner, Lisa Holloway, won Friendliest Landlady of the Year in the most recent AA Hospitality Awards. Book one of her seven bedrooms and you can enjoy fresh flowers, log fires, award-winning breakfasts and, if you book in advance, sophisticated suppers.