Cash Money!

October is coming to an end and winter months are starting-this is a scary time of the year for car dealers. The months of September and October were some of the worst used car-selling months in America's history. I've been looking at some of the articles and data about the industry and most agree that the financial problems of the United States have hit us hard. Unfortunately, Hardman Car Company has felt a pinch too, but we will continue to work hard to make it through this.

As a wife, and a stay at home mom, it has been hard for me to see the stress and worry in Sonny about money and not feel like I could do much to help him. So, me and my friend decided to start a women's money group. We call it Fiscally Fit Chicks and our goal is just to motivate and educate ourselves to be more financially savy. Our first meeting was last month (only the two of us showed up, but that's ok) and it has been exciting to work on the goals I set. It has been fun to change my mind frame from, "I can't do anything to help" to "I WILL do something to help"

Here were the 3 goals I set for the month:
1. Put an extra $300 in our savings account.
2. Put $25 in each of the boy's accounts.
3. Research and find new ways that I can make money.

So, I know that it is not a lot of money to put into savings- but I hadn't been in the habit of putting a set amount in every month. It was hit and miss, and lately, with the economy it was mostly miss. So, after the "book briefing" of Rich Dad Poor Dad that my friend gave in our meeting, I was re-motivated to make sure I always pay myself after paying 10% charity.
In order to find the money I did a few things:

First, I challenged myself to only spend money two days a week. I could only buy gas, groceries, food, etc. on two days of the week. I could not spend money on any other day. Second, I used coupons. (I've been couponing for a while now and am finally seeing a benefit. I get 3 papers every Sunday, browse all the ads and take a lot of time comparison shopping. I then go to Wal Mart because they match all competitor prices and shop, just once a week. So far I've cut around $200 a month on groceries. I know I can do more.) Third, I don't allow myself to eat out. I make sure that I make dinner, even when I don't want to, and I bring food in the car from home if I know we'll be driving over lunch time. I have never eaten out too much, but it saved about $50 just by avoiding drive throughs.

I then worked on my third goal of finding ways to make extra money and used that extra to help fill my first 2. These are some ideas I came up with:
First, I was able to get on the sub list to teach yoga for Gold's gym. Knowing I didn't want a full time commitment to any job, and not wanting to be required to teach at certain times and certain days- a sub was exactly what I wanted. The classes are before Sonny goes to work or after he gets home and I can choose if I want to take them or not. Just by picking up 5 yoga classes a month (something I would be doing anyway!) I will make an extra $150 a month.

Second, I started selling on Amazon. It was so easy to sign up to sell old books that are laying around my house. It takes very little time. I just type in the isbn number, they show the picture of the book, I describe the book's condition, put in the price and that's it. Amazon emails me when someone has bought something and I send it. They give a $3.50 commission on top of what you sell it for so depending on the price of shipping, sometimes I make even more than what it sold for. It usually isn't very much, but it is more than it would be selling for a $1 at a garage sale, or sitting on the shelf in my basement. That extra money gets directly deposited into my savings account.

Third, Ebay. I have never sold things on ebay before, but in an effort to accomplish goals 1 and 2 I jumped in. It is a little more work than Amazon, but it is still more money than you'd make from garage sales, consignment stores, or cluttering up your closet. I found that my name brand items sell best. I took pictures of a bunch of clothes, loaded onto the computer, wrote up descriptions about them and posted them for auction. I have to check my email a lot and see if people have questions about the items, but I usually am on the computer for a little bit every day anyway. Just from selling some old clothes I was able to come up with an extra couple hundred.

Fourth, babysitting. My good friend started a new job and needed a sitter for her daughter that is the same age of my son. I only watch her one day a week, we have fun playing and going to the library. She is a friend that would most likely be at my house anyway and it is really easy to have her with us. My friend pays me for watching her, an extra bit of money I get to put directly into savings.

Future Ideas: I also read up on some other easy ideas to make money as a stay at home mom that we are going to talk about in our next meeting. I am doing the "book briefing" on the book Multiple Streams of Income by Robert Allen.


He has some big ideas with real estate, stock markets, and that sort of thing. (which I plan to get more involved in too.) but some other little ideas I found are:

1. Selling your photos or videos. If you take lots of pictures did you know you can sell them as stock photos or video? It is only a few cents per picture, but if you have hundreds, why not give it a try?

2. Renting out your home for movies or commercials. I looked at the websites that do this and most of the homes they are looking for are in the LA area, but all you do is register your home on their site and if they choose it, you get paid. My cousin rented her flower shop one time for a movie to be shot in and it worked out really well for her!

3. Selling your craft items on sites like etsy.com, zazzle.com, or cafepress.com I am not a crafty girl, but some of my friends make the greatest cards, clothes, pictures. This is like having your own business, just online.

4. Be a mystery shopper. You get paid to shop so companies can evaluate their customer service, store cleanliness, things like that. You can make between $8 to $20 a trip, check out mysteryshop.org

Anyway I came up with a lot of new ideas. I actually have felt pretty excited this month and not depressed. It really has been fun and motivating to try some of these things. I can't believe that I get so excited to save just a little bit of money, but when I see it add up in my savings account. I LOVE IT!

My hope is that you don't need to worry about any of this extra stuff, but in case there are any other car dearler's wives out there, maybe this can give you some motivation during such a down time.

You deserve it.

On Friday, I pulled into my in-laws long driveway, searching for a glimpse of the new present. My father-in-law had gotten home at four AM that morning. He had driven thousands of miles to pick up the well deserved gift that now sat under a tarp on the back of a trailer in the front of their house.

Gary is a mechanic by trade. He has worked on cars since he was a small boy, helping his own father with his mechanic work when he was young. Whether working for large companies or fixing a neighbor's car that sat in their driveway, Gary's talents were exemplified almost daily. Before retiring last year, he woke up at five every weekday morning to make it to work on time, and spent every weekend in his garage, usually under someone else's car. Having the skills that Gary does, you would think the Hardman family was well stocked with nice vehicles but that is far from reality. A multi-colored Dodge Colt, a dented up Ford Escort, a smoking VW Rabbit and a rusty old van are just a few of the many misfits that have lived at their home. Though Gary's dreams of having beautifully restored antiques (like his 1932 Ford 5 window Coupe that he's had since he was 16!), have always been part of him, life has rarely allowed him the time or money to see them fulfilled. That is why this gift was such an exciting one.



This is Gary's 1932 Hot Rod. He has already put it together once in his life. Now he has begun to rebuild it again. This has been in many pieces inside his garage for all of Sonny's life.




My mother-in-law, Bonnie, opened the back door while I got the kids unloaded from our car.
"Have you seen it? How does it look?" I asked with Christmas morning like anticipation.

"Not yet." She hadn't even seen it herself.

Gary was out front right then, taking the tarp off. We hustled down the stairs, through the garage and out to the driveway. Gary smiled wide as we approached the trailer. Showing off his new gift, with the pride much like a new father, he unveiled an almost perfectly restored 1920 Dodge Brothers Touring.

The antique black convertible had the same wooden wheels, Dodge Brother's emblems, and convertible roof that it did in its glory days. We "oooed" and "awwed" over it. When I told Bonnie and Gary I wanted to take a picture of them sitting inside, Gary ran into the house, returning a few minutes later with an authentic 1920's gentleman's hat on his head.








After relishing in all the fancy details and watching Gary (and Bonnie's) excitement grow over the new member in their family, I thought about how deserving my father-in-law was to get himself a gift like this. A man that has always worked so hard and never asked for much. Someone I look up to, not just for being a good, kind, father and grandfather, but for raising a son that is the same way. I am thankful to have him as an example for my boys. I hope that this gift can be a great teaching moment; that it may take a long time to get what you want, but with hard work and perseverance dreams can come true.

Is it worth it? Grapes, diamonds and trade-ins.

Autumn smells sweet at my house. The grape arbor in the backyard swells with ripe purple and green fruit begging to be picked and converted to juice or jam. Unfortunately, these grapes live in a yard that belongs to me, a "non-canner", who guiltily ignores their pleasant scent, watching them shrivel up at the end of the season and die.


Well this past Saturday, my mom and sisters decided to take advantage of the bounty, using the grapes to their fullest potential, and came to my home to juice and can. It was a horribly messy task, but the end proved successful and worth it. A few minutes after my parents left, I got a call from my mom. She said she had lost her diamond from her ring. Somewhere in the mess of used up grape guts in the garbage or down the disposal or out in the grape arbor lay her $2,000 diamond. I was so sad for her! Even though this wasn't her original wedding ring (that was lost years ago) it was still one dad gave her.

I went to the garbage can and pulled out the boxes that held the grape waste and put it in the garage. My dad was planning to come back on Monday and search through it. In the next two days, my garage started to smell rotten and fermented and the bottom of the boxes were soaked through with grape juice. On Monday, my dad and I opened the smelly mess and holding our breath, picked through the vomit textured sludge. I made the comment that "this stuff would be perfect to use in a dare for someone to eat dog poo- cause it looked just like it." It was gross. We chuckled and grimaced. We searched a bit, but after awhile it just wasn't worth it. Dad went home empty handed but also resolved that digging through disgusting garbage for hours was not worth $2,000.




At the dealership, Sonny often has customer's weigh out whether trading in their car or selling it themself is "worth it". A couple months ago, a customer came in wanting to buy a car. He still had a vehicle that he needed to sell before he could buy the one he was looking at. He had always been told that dealerships never give you what your car is worth when trading it in, so he chose to sell his car on his own. He left the dealership in his old car, planning to return soon to buy the new one he really wanted.


Two months later the customer walked back through the door. Frustrated, he handed over the keys to his vehicle and said, "this isn't worth it. I'm trading it in." Their customer did not anticipate the cost of trying to sell his car himself. Paying for ads, taking customer calls, detailing, reconditioning, and washing the car, meeting people for appointments, negotiating, and worrying about buyer's financing were all costing him. Sonny paid him for his trade, got him a car he wanted and saved him several hundred dollars in sales tax because of his trade. The customer walked away happy, learning that his time was more important to him than the hassle and worries that come with selling a car on his own.

Since we all have different personalities, deciding whether something is "worth it" is always a personal choice. For me, the time and mess of juicing my grapes is not worth it. For my mom and sisters, the proud feeling they get from producing juice and jam that they can keep in their pantry's and save for food storage is worth it. For my dad, sifting through grape goo for a diamond is not worth it, but for another that has a sentimental attachment to the diamond or a need for $2,000 it is. Similarly, for some, the time, money and energy it takes to sell a car on your own is worth the effort. For our customer, saving valuable time and energy by trading in his car proved to be worth it.

So the next time you make a decision, from cleaning your house to selling a car, you can ask yourself, "is this worth it?"

Word of Mouth

A few weeks ago my friend went into Kid to Kid (a local children's consignment shop) to see if any of her old baby toys could be sold there. She had her one and two year old in tow and brought in several armfuls of things into the store by herself. It was busy inside, children were running around, mothers were shopping, and employess were ringing up sales. A sales woman approached her, and said, "I can tell you right now, we will not take anything like that." as she waved her fingers over a pile of my friend's things. She then looked through the remaining items quickly pulling one at a time and making comments like, "stain." "tear." "too old." She did not make eye contact or try to interact with my friend at all. In fact the only time she even looked up was to tell her that her kids couldn't play with the toys. (even though the particular toy they were playing with happend to be one of their own).

My friend gathered her items up, brought them all back to her car by herself, loaded up her kids. And started to cry.

I wonder if this sales woman has any idea the effect she had on my friend and in turn the negative effect she had on Kid to Kid's business? My friend has told that story to me and to many of our other friends, I am telling it to you, hopefully creating a word of mouth epidemic encouraging people not to shop at Kid to Kid. Sadly for them word of mouth is pretty powerful.

On the flip side, I also want to share with you a positive sales experience that hopefully will create a word of mouth epidemic to support business.

The other night, Sonny got home late after selling a car. When he sat down at the table to eat some now over cooked taco soup, he told me about the sale he had just had.

Sonny answered his phone a few days before and listened to a thick Middle Eastern accented voice offering to buy one of his cars for a couple of thousand dollars less than the asking price. The man was living in Arizona, finishing his degree before returning to his home in Saudi Arabia to work in the oil industry. He had just sold his vehicle and only wanted to spend the amount he profited on a new one. (He just happend to want a new one that was out of his price range.)

Sonny thanked him for his call and explained to him why the car was priced the way it was. "Because we are a small dealership and have less overhead than most large dealers, we are able to keep our prices low, but we really don't have that much mark up in the car to sell it for what you are asking." Sonny explained. He told him that the amount he was offering was less than what a dealer could currently sell the vehicle for at auction but reassurred him he wished he could help. They said "good-bye" and Sonny hung up the phone, thinking the man would just find something closer to home.

The next day, the gentleman called again. He told Sonny about his experience in calling dealerships throughout Utah, Arizona and California. He asked each dealer the same question and offered the same amount for the car he was looking for. He told Sonny that most treated him horribly. Salesmen told him he was "***ing crazy" to ask for such a price and "there was no dealer in the world that would sell it for that." They left him feeling insulted and upset. Sonny was the one dealer who was kind and helpful, because of his pleasant phone call, he now wanted to buy the car from him. He borrowed some money from a friend and boarded a plane with his new wife to fly to Utah and pick up the car.

Sonny picked them up from the airport, getting to know the young couple a little better. He drove them to the dealership, filled out paperwork and handed over the keys to their new car. Shaking hands, the customer walked away happy even though he had to pay a little bit more than he originally wanted and Sonny was happy to sell the car even though he had to take the extra hours to make it happen.

Now this is the kind of story that helps business. Sonny left his dealership that night knowing he had created a happy customer. Someone that will hopefully tell his car buying story to someone else and with the power of word of mouth create positive results for our business.

As consumers I hope all of us out there realize the power we have through word of mouth. I, myself have decided to use that power to its fullest potential, even though in the past I have not been very outspoken about negative or positive buying experiences. I think these stories give me a good base to judge them though, if they make me cry or use any words that require me to write *** in place of letters- bad experience. If they pick me up from the airport and stay late at night just to help me out- good experience.

Tall, Dark and Handsome

Wanted: Young professional with expensive taste, impecable charm, rich features and a love of scenic drives throughout the countryside.

Sounds like a great personal ad right? Lists of physical and emotional characteristics that you might find ultra appealing in a potential companion. All of us are wired with certain likes and dislikes that guide us to the important decision of who to love for a lifetime, or who might be better just to date. We go through mental pro and con lists, categorizing the prospective mate's attributes as we get to know them better. -He still wears the purple silk shirt he got in high school, Con. He always compliments my cooking, Pro.- It is something we all do, whether we realize it or not.

Choosing a used car is done in much the same way. In fact, I found a car that fit this particular ad perfectly.


A 330i BMW that is only three years old. It screams professional and expensive at everyone who views it. It holds all the charm of the BMW name and features like leather interior, sunroof, keyless entry, 18 inch alloy wheels are very rich! Not only does it look good, but as soon as you get in it, you'll want to drive forever. It is such a smooth ride.
A perfect match for that personal ad, but not so great for someone with an ad requesting a loyal companion, hard worker, with enough room in their heart for a family. That person may be looking more for a Ford four door truck. A vehicle known to last a long time, handle heavy loads, but still have enough space to fit a family of six.

In response to my reader's question, "what should I look for in a used car?" I want to emphasize that it is a personal adventure. You need to look for characteristics that you think are most important in your life. You need to decide if the vehicle you are test driving has what you need from a long term companion or if one date is enough. Why not make your own checklist? Write out a personal ad of your own, walk up to a sales person and say- this is what I want. Know beforehand what fits best for your lifestyle, your family, your taste- and go for it.

Just like looking at one personal ad and deciding that was the one for you, you'll probably have to search a few different places for the used car of your dreams, but when you find it- it will be so worth it!