I’ve been talking for a few weeks about this new project I’ve been gearing up for. Well the day has finally come and I have begun working in a new market. Currently all sales take place on http://sprocketbox.etsy.com but I expect to start custom orders soon as well. I will be specializing in custom auto decals and vinyl wall graphics. The shops offerings are a bit thin currently, but I’m just getting started and filling up the inventory more each day.

I was a bit aprehensive about starting this and have been wondering how it will go. After having two sales on my first day, I’m quite pleased already and am looking forward to larger projects (and sales).

I know withoutexcess has been lacking for a few days, and its all a result of this. I think this will add another dimension to what I know about finances, and learning more tends to be positive for everyone.

This week my new tools and supplies have come in, so it has been a very exciting week. I keep catching myself from getting ahead of myself in all of the possible plans. Part of me wants to rush out and buy tons of supplies and set up websites etc. That would probably just result in me ending up with a bunch of unnecessary stuff lying around, which completely negates how I have been pushing myself to live and in this case, work.

For now I need to take my time and really understand what it is I am doing and learn some new software. Tonight was the first test and it was a moderate success. I can tell I already have a lot to learn but am also excited that I have the chance. Once I feel comfortable enough about what I am doing and really plan to start selling, I will have more detailed and *revealing* announcement.

This goes with what I have said before about doing your research before you rush into things. Taking the time to make a smart decision can create a higher chance of success and reduce decision remorse.

After a few weeks of searching for loans and getting outbid at times, I finally completed my initial prosper campaign. I have 3 loans currently each withing my desired credit grades: AA, A, and B. My average interest rate for these three loans is a decent 15.6% annually. As long as they follow through and pay back on time, it certainly beats the pants of a lame 3.75% CD at your local bank. Once I am able to sell off some of my household unnecessaries, I plan to begin Prosper Loans - Round 2.

Yesterday I was able to remove one of the more bulky and unnecessary items from my garage. I have had a long pool lounge chair taking up space in my garage for over a year now. It was given to me last summer and I have used it maybe twice outdoors. With the dog now, I couldn’t even put it in the backyard without fear for destruction.

My solution, as I have mentioned before, was to purge it from my house. I didn’t know where to take the chair or if it would even fit in my car. Luckily, it was trash day. I figured if the trash people couldn’t take it, someone would; so I hauled it out to the curb. I’m fairly sure it wasn’t the trash people who made off with the chair, but someone who drove through and noticed a nice free chair on my curb. I returned from work happy now that I was free from this vinyl-wrapped menace!

If you have something large you no longer want, you might just give it a shot and curb it. The worst that might happen is you have to haul it back inside after trash-day is over. Some neighborhoods also offer a once-a-year bulk item trash day, so keep a watch for that. Alternatively, if the iteam is nice enough consider donating or selling to a thrift store or charifty (if its something they can use).

After my recent crash I’m finally back on my feet. This time I am taking going to be using some software alternatives that are free in order to save some money. This information might come in handy for people who don’t know what alternatives exist out there. After trying some of these out that I had never used before, I must admit I am impressed. Open Source software has come a long way to meet up and in some cases excel past competition.

AVG Antivirus

I have always been hesitant about anti-virus software since the old days of Norton when it engulfed 50% of my processing power, bringing my productivity to its knees. (Note: I believe this is still a feature of Symantec Norton Anti-Virus.) I also have never really enjoyed paying a bunch of money for something that will only last a year, until the next time the company decides I am out of date and need to “protect myself”. AVG is the perfect solution to both of these issues and is a painless download to boot. While idling the processes it has running amount to less than 10MB of memory and 0% of my CPU.

OpenOffice

I’ve been using OO for about 6 months and have been pleased with its features and stability. What I’m most pleased with is the price tag and its open-source slap in the face against the certain other office applications available.  The download includes a word processor, a spreadsheet application, a presentation tool, and more.

Inkscape

This was a big joy to find as my new upcoming project pretty much requires me to have a vector imaging program. Most of the costly alternatives are exactly that, very costly. I’ve been playing around with it for a little while and am very happy to find a free program where I can accomplish what I need.

These are just of the few software alternatives I use. If you have other software you need but can’t afford, you might want to check and see if a free alternative exists that will work, before dropping all of that money.