Geeze that picture looks huge. In reality it’s an itty-bitty round metal box about 2 inches across and 2 inches high – a spice grinder, to be precise. It’s been on my want list for a while, and I finally bit the bullet and bought it from Amazon.
Like the rest of the US, we can buy spices at the grocery store in bottles, and every bottle costs $$. Some more like $$$. However, there’s another section at most local grocers where you can buy Mexican herbs and spices in envelopes, for $ or sometimes ΒΆΒΆ. When I say Mexican spices, I’m not talking about exotic chili powders (though those are available too), but typical stuff – garlic, cinnamon, etc. – for considerably less money. What’s more, those envelopes are 1) fresher and 2) contain more of the product than bottles. There are also times where something is out of stock in the bottles, available only in the Mexican-spice area. I bought cumin that way recently, and was glad to get it. Unfortunately the only option was to purchase whole cumin instead of the ground version.
There was an attempt to crush the grains using waxed paper and a rolling pin. Not a successful attempt, but an attempt.
Hence the grinder.
It’s not a one-off tool, though. Hopefully once we move, I’ll have a bona-fide herb garden. I already owned a food dehydrator. Adding the grinder, I’m set.
Work has been… work. With one person on vacation there are now only two of us who know how to do my job, and it’s a 7-days-a-week deal, 9.5 hours a day. We can’t skip a day and make it up later; this is a time-sensitive project. I’m the primary one doing the job, with the others as backup.
My partner in crime had to call out yesterday morning due to a family emergency, and with our third wheel out on vacation, I filled in. I’m creeping up on 70 hours this week.
My bank account is dancing a jig. My body is screaming bloody murder.
With an actual day off today, I slept most of the day away. (Chronic pain is a bitch.) After finally waking up, followed by a pseudo-meal of hot dogs, I zoned out in front of YouTube. A lot of my YouTube time is white noise – music videos, various reviews, etc. Occasionally I watch a how-to video for Photoshop or photography, something like that.
However… since aforementioned bank account is slightly healthier lately, this video caught my eye and zoned me back in long enough to watch it:
I already knew some of the stuff this guy mentioned, though he does a good job clarifying the difference between index funds, EFTs, bonds, etc. He outlines the pros and cons of each type of investment and the expected ROI (return on investment) for each. He doesn’t promise ridiculous returns and while his website is all paid courses on investing, his videos don’t smack you over the head with them. I did buy a third-party book he recommended – on eBay for under 6 bucks. (It was 30 on Amazon.)
This video is an interview he did, talking about how he got his start.
There are methods and ways of making passive income other than what this person suggests, though. Daughter has a product idea and I know in theory how to get it done. I was hoping G would help. He flaked on it, so it’s up to me, as usual.
It would be amazing to get more support for attempting to build passive income. I love G to pieces and he does his best at side hustles – on his terms. We’re generally on the same page, including for money; but the occasional disconnect like this drives me crazy.
I still recommend everyone read 4-Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferris. Even if you’re not an entrepreneur, it will get you thinking seriously about how to rearrange your finances and your life to make both work better for you. (That’s an affiliate link from Amazon. If you buy the book I get a few cents. It doesn’t change your price in any way.) Considering the state of the economy these days, it’s a balancing act to both make more money and save more money. Preferably without killing yourself. This book was a huge turning point for me.
A few years back I’d read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. (Not an affiliate link.) It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever read. It did, however, make me rethink my money management, enough to make me start looking for more financial education – which led me to 4-Hour Work Week.
Incidentally, the book I ordered on eBay today is MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom. (Also not an affiliate link.) I haven’t read the book yet but for that price I’m happy to give it a shot.
My financial education when I turned 18 was nonexistent. My parents didn’t even teach me to balance a checkbook, never mind how to create a budget. I was also taught – verbatim – I had no right to be paid for doing “what [I was] supposed to do”. No allowance, thank you very much, but I’d better damned well find a way to give money to the church from those nonexistent funds. Without going into all the gory details, suffice to say my financial education was a far cry from what they taught my younger brother. His time was valuable. He was urged to get a job and build the beginnings of a career. They bought him his first car. My sole value was whatever unpaid work could be put on my shoulders, for as many hours a day as it took.
Once I moved out on my own, my finances were an unholy mess for decades, even when I made a decent income. Part of that was thanks to my first husband, my kids’ dad, who was an addict and a colossal asshole. Who’d-a thunk drug addiction doesn’t contribute to good money management?
Eventually, I came to understand even more of the problem was on me. It was partly due not understanding the basics of money management, coupled with a huge dollop of my parents’ teachings about not deserving money for anything I did. Took me a hell of a long time to work through both those early sucker punches. The remnants still bounce around in my head and probably always will.
Ironically, my brother – who was SO much more important then me – had to move in with me after his divorce, until I kicked him out for being an utter dick. He was making substantially more money than me, his kids were grown and he didn’t need to pay spousal support, but he couldn’t manage his money for shit. Still can’t, far as I know.
It’s amazing to me how those of us who came from very little (in finances or guidance) manage to make our way and build a life. Good for you. I hope all works out.
Love the little spice grinder. Good luck with that.
If nothing else, our backgrounds make us appreciate what we have now, along with the opportunties that came to us along the way.
I’ve already done a few things: bought and traded a few stocks, for example. One tanked, the second one went up. Bought a limited amount of crypto currency (very limited, thankfully) which tanked – but didn’t put down enough money in either case to break us, by a long shot.