Hello blogosphere

Hello Blogosphere,
so, this is my first foray into the world of blogging. I'm probably about the 4 billionth blog to be created, so I don't particularly expect to accomplish anything major with this. I'm not attempting to do much except share my thoughts with the world at large.

In case you might be interested to check back later on, here's some things you may find me commenting on:
-trials and tribulations of starting an on-line arts and crafts store at artfire.com
-trials and tribulations of trying to get published as a childrens book author.
-Trying to make extra money
-renovating our new house and doing most of the work myself
-Kung-Fu
-Fitness and weight loss
-news and politics
-anything that strikes my fancy
-family life
-living with lots of pets
-working from home


So basically, I am a 33 y.o. male, with a beautiful wife and two beautiful daughters. I work full time from home as a remote life insurance underwriter (I evaluate insurance applications, medical history, etc.).

Though I make a good income, we've always struggled with money due to some poor financial decisions early in or marriage, and some bad spending habits, that we have never really recovered from. The past winter we finally bought a house in the small town of Creston BC. It's a beautiful lot and the house has "good bones". But needs some work. So, we got started and I've done a lot of work so far. Tearing down walls and putting up new ones, making closets, dry-walling, painting, flooring, etc. But it's costly and we're overstretched and debt-ridden. Well, we already were before, but it's worse now.

So, we're trying to make extra money. Ideally, we'd like to do like in the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" books and develop some streams of passive income. But so does everyone else in the world, so how do you weed through all the scams etc and get going, especially when you've got loads of debt and no capital.
For me, the most obvious and easily accessible source of extra money should be overtime at work. I already work lots of it because there's so much volume of work lately. I'm good at it, and I'm able to work flexible hours as I'm home-based. So what's the problem? First, there was the "promotion" where I became a "professional" and was no longer eligible for overtime pay. I still maintain this was illegal, but my employer won't admit that and it's not cost effective to take them to court over it. Anyway, it was partially resolved last year when they paid me a large portion of my back OT in one big chunk. Now the problem is that they have already blown the budget for OT this year. So I'm stuck for now.

So I've turned to some other things.
First, I write. I figured I would try my hand at books for children, but so far no luck finding any publishers. I haven't given up yet, though.

Second, we're a crafty family and as a teen I made a tidy little profit making and selling FIMO necklaces and Rhythm sticks and stuff at festivals and things. So far haven't been too successful at local markets since the traffic is mostly seniors (I love seniors, they just tend to have different taste than what I sell). So I started a store on artfire.com (no sales yet), but I like the idea of having a store open 24/7. (Start at my facebook fan page : http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Sticks-Stones-and-Bones/112342633608?ref=ts ) It's Sticks, Stones and Bones. I'm getting my URL changed at artfire, so I'll post it when that's done.
Artfire is great. It's a lot like Etsy, but cheaper and more user friendly (IMO, but I haven't used Etsy myself, so...). Unfortunately not as much traffic yet.

I also signed up for an affiliate program and advertising campaign. Somewhere out there thousands of people are seeing ads for Satellite TV service and if the sign up I get a commission. Trouble is, so far out of nearly 3000 views, conversion rate is still zero. Not one sale yet. I've also got affiliate agreements for ADT alarms and Amazon. com but haven't started any advertising for those.

Next step is a big yard sale this weekend. So far it's the only thing I'm trying that I'm 100% sure will make us some money.

It's just the beginning of this journey and I have lots of ideas to try. All the advise I've seen says to be persistent and stay positive. I'm very cautiously optimistic that some day, eventually, our efforts will bear fruit. At least we are now in our own space and comfortable.