Sick Of Your Job? Work From Home Instead!

Many people go through their day-to-day lives wishing they could be doing something else. It's hardly uncommon to hate your job, but that begs one particular question: why put up with it? Why bother sticking it out in a job that you can't stand instead of just walking away? For most people, the answer is pretty simple, what else would they do? Very few of us have the luxury of just getting up and walking out of our job one day when we decide we're sick and tired of it. So lots of people simply carry on and hope something better comes along. Well if you want to get away from your awful job it's up to you to make that happen. And one of the best things that you can do is to work from home instead. Millions of people every day are discovering how much more flexible and in control they are when they work from home rather than in an office. And if you're wondering what kind of things you could actually do to make that happen, then don't worry! Here is a list of three ways that you can earn money from home.

Start your own business

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Have you always had a business idea that you were sure would make millions? Well then why not just go for it? It's never been easier to set up your own business and thanks to the internet you have access to customers from every corner of the globe. There are plenty of services that allow you to create slick and professional websites and social media has made marketing yourself easier than ever. Just about everything that you need to start your own business, from insight into the best practices, to information on how to court investors, is right at your fingertips. Of course, it's important that you make your business professional and not just a hobby project if you plan on making your living off of it. From well-designed branding to virtual mailbox rental, it's incredibly important to make a good impression with your business.

Buy and sell stuff online

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You would honestly be surprised at just how many people are able to make a solid living this way. Whether it’s clothes, furniture, collectibles or antiques, the internet has opened up markets for just about anything and there's a lot of money to be made if you're able to capitalize on that.

Freelance

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If one of the major issues with your jobs is that you find it too restrictive, then you will definitely want to consider freelancing. As a freelancer, you're able to set your own hours, as well as being able to be selective about who you work for any when. Depending on how much you want to earn you can take on as much or as little as possible. Whether you have a way with words or a knack for design, there are always businesses out there looking for professionals with specific sets of skills.

Lazy Coconut Flour Banana Bread

So it was New Year's Day and I was bouncing around trying to avoid working on my paper organizing and working on my upcoming cookbook. I spotted 3 spotted bananas and claimed them as mine. I remembered I wanted to use up that coconut flour I bought months ago. It's expensive and I'm not sure why I got it (to make some Trim Healthy Mama goodies?) since I don't have the time to bake very often anyway.

Plus, let's face it, in my house when I bake a set of 4 mini banana bread loaves, they are inhaled within a few hours. Still, the allure of that coconut flour with its pretty pretty protein and it's fabulous fiber and it's cautious carb count. I couldn't resist. It makes me feel like I'm being healthier and feeding my kids all great too.

The ingredients:

1 cup coconut flour
3 ripe bananas
4 eggs
6 T melted butter or coconut oil
5 T honey
1/4 t. salt
1 t. to 1 T cinnamon to taste
1/2 t. baking soda
1 T vanilla
Sugar ... here you can do what you like. I used about 3 t. coconut sugar to see what it would taste like in the end. You can use regular sugar or the liquid stevia.

The steps:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Use pan spray to coat your loaf pan. I like a mini loaf pan that gives us 4 mini loaves plus the cooking time is reduced and the middle is never gross. This is one reason the recipe is dubbed "lazy" ... good cooks use parchment paper to line their baking situations but not me. Lay-zee.

3. Smash the bananas in a bowl and add all other wet ingredients.

4. Here's the other lazy part: good cooks keep their wet and dry ingredients separate, like a bride and groom on their wedding day. Me? Nah. I do the wet stuff then add the dry stuff and mix it all together. The result usually rocks.

*side note: as I was making this recipe, my husband came into the kitchen as I was shaking cinnamon into the bowl (not measuring). He jokingly asked how much I put in. I said I didn't know. He says, "It's okay, baby, you do your thing." I have to say that was awesome because there was a time when he was about to lock me away for the way I bake ... not measuring everything and not being exact and yet my stuff turns out okay most of the time anyway. I love that guy.

5. Put your concoction into your loaf pan/pans. This makes one large loaf or four small ones. Bake for 20 minutes then check it. I never can get things to come out at the same time every time so you'll have to babysit this one. Sorry about that.

6. Top with lots of butter because I am a champion of butter and don't believe it is evil!

You can customize this recipe once you get comfortable with it. For instance, you could add mini chocolate chips or try out applesauce instead of the butter. Let me know how it works out!

Check out more awesome recipes in this!

Share the Love of #Swagbucks and Earn $5 #valentinesday

February is a month of love, and getting a $5 bonus from Swagbucks is their way of showing it! Swagbucks is a rewards site where you earn points (called SB) for things you're probably doing online already, like searching, watching videos, discovering deals, and taking surveys. Then you take those points and exchange them for gift cards to places like Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, Target, or PayPal cash.

When you sign up through me this month, you can earn a $5 bonus! Here's how:

1. Sign up using this link

2. Earn 300 SB total before 3/1/17. You'll get a $3 (300 SB) bonus for it!

3. If you spend at least $25 through Swagbucks Shop* you'll get another $2 (200 SB) bonus on top of the cash back you'll get from shopping. If you have some shopping to do online, just go to Swagbucks first and visit the store through them. It doesn't cost you anything extra, but you'll get SB points for every dollar you spend (on top of the bonus)!

That's it. It's super easy, and Swagbucks is for real. I use it myself, and I've earned 52,259 Swagbucks so far, which is $522.59 in real money! I generally cash out in my PayPal account so I can shop on eBay (earning more Swagbucks) or Amazon (also earning more Swagbucks). It's a lovely cycle!

*You must receive your shopping SB before April 1st

Collage.com Review ... A Much Easier Way to Keep Your Memories

Welcome to another edition of Reviews I Should Have Posted Forever Ago. Back here in 2014 I wrote about Collage.com and how I was going to make a photo book for my family for free to review. I got to make two of them but right now can only find one of them due to packing and not moving issues. The other one is much bigger and I think it's from a trip we took to Branson when I got to review Castle Rock indoor water park, which ROCKED. This one featured is small and already a page has fallen out of it. I also could never figure out how to put captions with any of the pictures but maybe that has changed since 2014.

The little book I made in like 12 seconds just popping in the pictures I wanted from our Eureka Springs vacation.

I couldn't figure out where to type this so I just wrote it once I got it.

Lots of layout options so you can pick the focal point and build around it.

Oh, man, do I remember this day clearly! That water was freezing and they had just let the dam out (is that the right way to say that?). We were there with Aron's identical twin and his kids and it was just a lovely day. Some of them jumped in to freeze. This girl did not.

Bottom line: I recommend this HIGHLY. I used to do Creative Memories albums like a crazy person and it took a lot of time and money. I have a lot of VERY HEAVY albums. At this point in my life I'm thinking making these quick albums would be the better way to go but I am a woman of WORDS so I would need to be able to do a caption under certain photos or at least dedicate an entire page to talking about the story behind the situation, especially since I take copious journal notes of every day of my life. And how did you like that run-on sentence, friends? You're welcome.

Earn #Swagbucks in your Neighborhood with SB Local

You've probably heard me talk about Swagbucks before. It's the site where you get points (called SB) for doing things like shopping, discovering deals, watching videos, taking surveys, and searching the web. Then you turn those points in free gift cards to places like Amazon, Starbucks, Target, and PayPal cash.

Swagbucks is at its best when they're paying you to do something you'd already do online, and now they're taking that concept into thousands of restaurants around the country with the SB Local app for iOS and Android. Starting on 2/2 and running through Sunday, 2/5, they have a killer deal running - here's how you can take advantage of it:

1. Click here to download the Swagbucks Local app. You can create your Swagbucks account if you're new to it.
2. Sign in with your Swagbucks account information.
3. Link your first debit/credit cards to your Swagbucks Local app and get an instant 100 SB!
4. Use your linked card to pay at thousands of participating locations! If you spend $20 or more before Monday, February 6th, you'll get a 300 SB bonus! That bonus will be paid out by 5pm PST on February 10th.

If you're also signing up for Swagbucks for the first time and use my link, that means you'll get another 300 SB bonus. We're talking about $7 plus for going out to eat!

Some more info about SB Local:
Soon after paying with your linked card, you will see the transaction show up in your Swagbucks Local Activity ledger. Your SB earned will be calculated on the transaction amount before taxes and tip. Swagbucks Local is currently supported in the following metropolitan areas: San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, Ventura County, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington DC, Phoenix, Houston, Denver, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, Seattle, Fort Lauderdale and Chicago. New cities added on a regular basis, and you'll get the 100 SB bonus for linking your first card even if you don't live in one of the cities listed above!