DISQUS

If you could become a speaker (inspirational? financial?) with a speakers bureau, then you could start getting alternative income that way. Good luck with your very ambitious goals!

Fecundity: I think you are remembering "In the Night Kitchen." It is indeed a neat book!
There's a sappy little Mary Engelbreit poster that says,"A book is a gift you can open over and over again." Sappy, but in this case, true!

Very interesting post! Thanks for the link. I do think you need at least two major credit cards, maybe 3, for the following reason: my husband cycles through the websites of our credit cards (one VISA, one Mastercard, one Discover) every morning. Using Firefox, he doesn't even have to type in the passwords so it's a very quick process. Two days before we were supposed to leave home for a 6-week trip this summer, he saw that there was a fraudulent airline ticket charge on the credit card we most like to use (Marriott VISA card for the points!) and he called it in immediately. They were able to stop the charge before it even cleared the airline so presumably this thief never got his free flight. Anyway, when we travel, we like to have a different card in each of our wallets so that if one of us loses his/her card, we've got another one to rely on and having 3 cards made this possible.

This is a subject about which I feel VERY strongly. My parents were professionals and I had everything I wanted growing up. There was no need for me to do chores or work after school; however, when I turned 16, my father made me get a job--and I mean he went and got the job for me and told them I'd be there, starting the next day, all without my ever knowing it. And what job did he make me get?? I had to be a waitress in a "family" style restaurant, catering, at best, to the middle class. I resented the job and I resented my father, and it's the best thing that ever happened to me. Since that summer, over 40 years ago, I have never stiffed a waiter or waitress, never. Even if the service is inattentive and even if the food is mediocre, I realize that these people are struggling with personal and work-related problems that most of us never realize. I could go on and on, but please let me implore all of you out there: if you can't afford to leave a tip, go to a fast food restaurant where at least the workers have a dependable hourly wage, a "luxury" which waiters and waitresses never enjoy.