Prosper With Me

New website and new platform for The Passive Dad

2008-06-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

I have officially launched my new site for The Passive Dad and converted my posts from blogger to wordpress. I will be share some of my thoughts and input on the conversion process, as it was not easy for me and took days longer than it should have. My host godaddy, has been fantastic and the customer support is amazing. I have never waited more than 2 minutes on hold, as I have called them 10 times in the last 3 days. I hope you stop by The Passive Dad, and let me know what you think of the new site. I look forward to building out this new site and networking with other working dads/moms and anyone interesting in eliminating debt and creating passive income.

Scott

Blog for Sale ? Would you purchase a blog ?

2008-04-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

I enjoy investing and finding passive income opportunities and wanted to find out if a marketplace exists for websites. Now that blogging is consuming more and more of my time, I wondered if anyone has sold a blog. Well, they have. Sitepoint has a marketplace for blogs, websites, and other internet commerce. Some of these websites are very active and rank as a PR1, PR2, or even a PR5. I actually just learned last night what "PR" means for a website or blog. "PR" is Page Rank, and if you have a PR1 you would be the top ranking on google. Clearly, a PR1 or PR2 website would command a hefty price. I did a google search for "blog sale" and found a listing on Sitepoint for Internet Babel. They claim 45,000 monthly page views and 2,500 unique visitors monthly. Also, revenue of $20 a month and over 3,600 backlinks. Internet Babel claims to have interviews with John Chow and Shoemoney, two of the top blogs. What would you pay for this piece of the internet? How do you even start to monetize a personal blog created by someone else? I begin to wonder how someone would be able to keep the same subscr i ption base when the blog is sold. Would the continuity and style change with a sale? Well, an estimated price was put on this blog of $2,884 and I've contacted Internet Babel if a buyer has emerged. According to Sitepoint, the highest bid was $1,000, and the reserve was not met. I will post an update when I learn more about the transaction.

Also today, I found another blog for sale. Moms Cash Blog was started by Krysti and she is a mother of a 2 year old and an entrepreneur. Krysti claims that her blog has a google page rank of 4 or PR4 and an Alexa rank of 152,000. For a blog that is only 6 months old, she has a good following. On Friday April 25th, Krysti opened up the bidding for the next 72 hours. When the 72 hours are up, she will transfer the domain and all posts to the highest bidder. This blog has some unique content about Krysti as well as posts on adsense, affiliate marketing, surveys, coupons, and making money online. Krysti also offers some personal experience and insight into starting her own blog and I wonder if selling the blog would lose some her readers. If a man purchased this blog, would it change the dynamics and lose the identity of the blog? I have sent Krysti an email and will post who's the new owner of Moms Cash Blog.

A mouse in my garage? 5 ways to keep mice out

2008-04-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but one thing that motivates me to clean out my garage is the sign of a mouse. I love animals, but a mouse cannot live in my house or garage. Seeing all those droppings everywhere can get my skin crawling. I called Clarks Pest Control and spoke to a great guy who gave some suggestions for maintaining a pest free garage. Some of these ideas are easy and others take a bit of work and a few dollars.

1. Keep all pet food or garbage sealed in closed containers. I have two dogs and would "roll down" the dog food bag. I thought this would work as I was taking most of the air out of the bag and making sure it was compact. I was told that a mouse could easily eat through the paper or find a small hole and enter. My first purchase was the orange Home Depot bucket that would secure the food safely. Any bucket with a secure lid would work. You could reuse kitty litter buckets or rice buckets if you wanted to recycle. If you don't secure your food, the mouse could enter the bag and have a buffet.

I also started a new habit when feeding my dogs. I make sure to take the food container outside and scoop the food directly into the dog bowls. I believe I was accidentally spilling dog food when I was in the garage. This was probably another source of food for the mouse.

2. A mouse only needs 1/4" (one quarter of an inch) clearance to enter your garage or house. This was much smaller than I realized. Make sure gaps greater than 1/4" are sealed. I purchased a can of expanding foam from Orchard Supply Hardware and went around my garage and sealed vents and anywhere that had a small gap. My screens under my house have holes for cable, phone wires, water, and air conditioning. All of these holes needed to be sealed.

3. I had a 1/4" gap under my garage side door. I purchased a small weather strip for the garage side door that attaches to the bottom. This will help seal the door and keep rain and mice out.

4. Once in your garage, mice can live in your old boxes of stuff. If you want to be extra cautious, you can purchase storage bags or bins. I went to Target and purchased 10 plastic storage bins for baby clothes, toys, books, and other items that I want to keep sealed and mouse free. The bins were about $8 each. They are easy to stack and will keep items fresh and harder for mice to penetrate.

5. Get a cat to live in your garage 24/7. Not very practical and besides, I'm allergic to cats. Cat's are wonderful animals but unfortunately, I can't live with them. I would need to be on Benedryl all day.

Out of all these suggestions, I believe keeping food sources sealed and contained will help eliminate my mouse problems. My dog food will remain safe and sealed and keep out any unwanted visitors.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for keeping mice out of your garage.

March Yuwie earnings up 90%

2008-04-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Earnings for March on Yuwie were up 90% to $10.84 This may not seem like a large amount of money, well it's not, but the momentum is gaining along with referrals. I'm adding about 200+ referrals a month to my total tree. In case you are not familiar with Yuwie, it's a free social network similar to Myspace or Facebook and does not charge a membership fee. I have enjoyed meeting new friends from around the world and sharing stories about work, family, school, ebay, investments, and hobbies. My referral tree grew to the final 10th level and I have one person on level 10. To find out more, you can view some great video clips here at Yuwie. Yuwie shares a portion of the revenue from advertisers up to 10 levels. The RSR, or Revenue Sharing Rate for March was 40 cents. The RSR will increase as the number of Yuwie members increases. As more join, the advertisers will want to bid higher for ad placement on Yuwie. Currently, Myspace and Facebook does not share this revenue with it's members....but Yuwie does. I don't expect 90% returns every month, but do expect the number of referrals to grow. Yuwie is a great example of passive income. I earn income 24/7 and don't have to be logged on to make money. The RSR can fluctuate and the earning potential can always decrease, but for now the earnings appear to be gaining momentum.

BMW X5 Air Intake Replaced. Now Faster than Ever!

2008-04-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

Wow! I have a new X5 again. I can't believe that a $30 part was causing so many issues for my X5. When I got the car back from the mechanic I immediately hit the gas and put it to the test. Very little to no hesitation after the first punch of the gas. Then the first test was a stop light. No stalling and no check engine light. Success! Engine just went back to a nice and easy idle without coughing or erupting like a volcano. The hesitation issue was gone as the X5 is receiving the proper air mixture. The issue the mechanic found was a one inch crack in the small rubber tube on the air intake. He believes it was an age factor as my car is a 2001 with 97,000 miles. What a huge improvement. I don't recall the car responding like this in a very long time. Many owners complain about a delay or sluggish start for the X5. I wonder if this crack in the air intake is a common problem and would help solve many air issues for the X5. I am thrilled that I have my old/new vehicle back. Now, if it can just hold on a bit longer for our summer road trip. San Francisco to Las Vegas and then to Disneyland and back to San Francisco.

BMW X5 mechanical update Need new air intake boot

2008-04-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my X5 stalled and when I went to restart, sounded like I had a volcano under the hood of my car. Called my mechanic this morning and he was available to see the car. He received a code 268 and that the number 1 cylinder was acting up. He replaced the spark plugs and wiring last week, so he kept looking for other issues. Apparently he found a crack in the air intake boot and thinks this may be causing the issue. $185 including labor. My mechanic said the age of the vehicle (2001) and mileage (97000) could cause the crack in the rubber boot. I was a bit skeptical, but will have to take his word on this one. This could be my cheapest trip to the mechanic to date. I will be sure to give it a serious road test the next few days.

BMW X5 Safe, fun to drive, but unreliable and expensive to maintain.

2008-04-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

I've yet to vent on my blog, and I'm a bit embarrassed by some of my thoughts...but I'm sick of my X5. First off, I have a 2001 X5 and it was the first production year for the 3.0 model. Of course, most people tell you to avoid the first model year as the problems can be addressed and tested for the next model year. Well, I should have waited as nearly every mechanical issue has plagued my X5. Window regulators, engine wiring, oxygen sensors, temperature switches, dead pixels in display, fuel sensor outage, more window regulators (do they go out every 10k miles?), GPS display going on and off. This is just off the top of my head as I know I've had more items replaced. I do believe that the car is extremely safe and fun to drive, but at what cost?
Today, with my two children in the car, I was at an intersection waiting for the light to turn green and the service engine soon or (SES) light turns on. Unfortunately, this is a common light that comes on for my X5. I said a few adult expletives under my breath as my 4 year old is very curious about the situation. I explain that daddy's car is acting up again and that I need to turn off her music so I can listen to my car cough and sputter as if it's taking it's last dying breath. I hate this SUV or SAV as BMW calls it. Engine sputters and dies. Next step, turn on my hazards. I'm really getting too good at this process. I then say a quick prayer and turn over the engine. It starts again, but is sputtering even more. I gun it and just make it to the curb where I call my mechanic.
I will have the X5 towed over to the mechanic who can troubleshoot the latest SES light and codes. Should be a fun conversation as the mechanic supposedly fixed the same issue last week. Same issue and he replaced all six spark plugs with new wiring and all codes were removed after road test. Cost last week $800
Good news...car is paid for. Bad news...trip to mechanic always runs $350-1200.

Yuwie February earnings

2008-04-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

My second month on Yuwie was spent joining clubs and accepting and making new friend requests. Yuwie has clubs for all interests and has over 2,000 new members joining each day. Yuwie is a free social network similar to Myspace or Facebook and does not charge a membership fee. This is a social networking site first and foremost and should always be understood that it is not a business marketing or spam free for all. I have enjoyed meeting new friends from around the world and sharing stories about work, family, school, ebay, investments, and hobbies. My referral tree also grew in February and I had about 300 total referrals through 8 levels. Yuwie shares a portion of the revenue from advertisers up to 10 levels. The RSR, or Revenue Sharing Rate for February was 38 cents. The RSR will increase as the number of Yuwie members increases. As more join, the advertisers will want to bid higher for ad placement on Yuwie. Currently, Myspace and Facebook does not share this revenue with it's members....but Yuwie does. Pretty cool! My earnings for February were $5.68. Not a lot of $$$.... but this is just the beginning.

Is Yuwie a Scam? Does Yuwie Pay?

2008-01-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

First, Yuwie is a free social network similar to Myspace or Facebook and does not charge a membership fee. Second, I have had the chance to view several screen shots of some paychecks valued at $100-200. Now, it would be a scam if you read an article, blog, or advertisement that claimed someone on Yuwie is making thousands of dollars today. Yuwie is only about 8 months old and no one to my knowlege is making thousands of dollars yet. Yet, that means it is possible. For the record I received my first earnings report for the month of December and made 87 cents. This may not seem worth it to some, but I see the potential for many referrals as this is a social networking site that builds upon friendships, blogs, pictures, video, and more. I have already doubled my page views for January and expect to make $1-2 in January. This may seem like peanuts, but the point is to build a downline of active referrals and equip them to do the same. The social networking market is still growing and Yuwie is sharing a portion of their ad revenue with members. Yuwie pays it's users up to 10 levels and that can add up to a lot of money quickly. I want to be realistic about this and not expect to make thousands as some are claiming. I think a goal of one hundred a month would be a good realistic goal. If I could offset one bill, that would be a huge success. I get excited thinking of my car insurance or water bill being paid by Yuwie each month.

Big Crumbs First Paypal Payment

2008-01-21T15:40:00.000-08:00

I received the best email today from Big Crumbs that read "Payday at Big Crumbs". I clicked on the message and found that my first payment had been credited to my Paypal account. What a great email message! I signed up for Big Crumbs on November 4th and this payment included transactions for the month of November. I really started receiving referrals towards the later part of November and December. As of today I have 111 total referrals on Big Crumbs through 3 levels. My November Paypal payment was for 79 cents. Not a lot of money. Not even enough to buy a Starbuck's short coffee, but it's a great start. My December payment should be around $7-8. Big Crumbs has the potential to start a nice passive income stream and pay at least one of my monthly bills. I would love to be able to cover my trash, cable, internet, or even cell phone bill through my monthly check. Big Crumbs pays you up to 5 referral levels for purchases on ebay and at over 160 online merchants. Ebay is really the best partner for Big Crumbs as ebay store owners can list their items for sale on Big Crumbs and receive even more sales.

Making Money on Myspace or Facebook? Try Yuwie

2008-01-03T14:10:00.000-08:00

Are you making residual income on Myspace or Facebook or another social networking site? Yuwie is trying something different. They are sharing ad revenue with their members and paying up to 10 levels. Myspace and Facebook are earning millions while their memebers are not sharing any of the revenue generated by ad income. Yuwie shares a percentage of the income and will pay you for all your active referrals up to 10 generations. This is so new that I have only found one user who has 10 generations. Check out Yuwie and use this link here to join. It's free and fun and you get paid to do all the things you love: blog, take pictures, and meet friends. Great opportunity to invite your friends on Myspace or Facebook to join Yuwie and finally earn some money for having fun!

Like MySpace or Facebook but get paid. Yuwie

2008-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

I first learned about Yuwie on a Big Crumbs forum post that described a social networking site similar to MySpace or Facebook but with one big exception. You earn money! Yes, you can really earn money but it will take a few referrals and a lot of page activity to earn some serious money. Yuwie will pay you for all of your referral activity up to 10 levels. You share in the advertisement revenue that Yuwie receives and get paid based on your website activity and all of your referrals up to 10 levels. Just like MySpace and Facebook, you can meet new freinds and invite them to view your blog, pictures, comment section, music, rate your layout, play games, and more. Every time someone visits your site, comments on your (blog, picture, layout) you will get paid. This can add up quickly if you are active and have active referrals. Check out Yuwie and get paid to have fun. Once you join I will start sending friend requests your way through my network and get you up to speed fast on this fun and amazing social networking site Yuwie

My First Referral on Big Crumbs

2007-11-29T20:45:00.000-08:00

Success! I received my first referral through my "about me" page on ebay. I describe the savings that can made for ebay purchases and over 130 online merchants on my auctions. One person has signed up under my Scott35 id on Big Crumbs I have also made my first ebay purchase and bought 1200 paypal shipping labels that I can peel and make my shipping life a lot easier. Currently, I use a tape gun and it can take a few seconds or a few minutes depending on the package. These labels are perfect as they come two to a sheet and I can print and peel them off. I wish I had found this option sooner as the label can be a very trying part of the packaging process. I plan on developing a flyer or card that I can insert in my ebay packages that will let buyers know about Big Crumbs. The savings are huge if you use ebay or Overstock, Target, Gap, Disney, Dell, Toys R' Us, Buy.com, Half.com, and many others. Let me know if you utilize any marketing material in your ebay sales. I found print vendor on Big Crumbs called Vista Print and they offer some free notecards and business cards that would be great for ebay mailers.

My First Purchase on Big Crumbs

2007-11-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

I just received my first cash back award for using Big Crumbs for $2.88. I bought $114.82 on Overstock.com on November 22nd and I received my cash award today. A wonderful site, that is easy to navigate and shop. Full of great retailers like ebay, overstock, best buy, buy.com, disney, dell and more. I plan to use Big Crumbsfor all my online shopping this season and will report my savings on this blog. I've already signed up my parents and they will be using the site for all of their purchases as well. The great advantage of Big Crumbsover other affiliate sharing programs is the referral incentive program. You can earn money through referring other's to sign-up for Big CrumbsI also buy on ebay and am excited that you can earn money on your ebay purchases. To learn more visit Big Crumbs and let me know what you think.

5 Reasons Why I Love My Prius

2007-11-26T15:33:00.000-08:00

I purchased a used 2002 Prius two years ago and feel it has been the best vehicle I have ever owned. It may not do 0-60 in 4.0 seconds or be able to hold 7 passengers, but it has been the most reliable and economical car I have owned in 18 years of driving. My other car is an SUV and far from economical and reliable. I can’t wait for Toyota to make an SUV with Prius technology and then I can trade in my old SUV. Well, I love my Prius for the following reasons:

1. Obvious answer: Great gas mileage. Current gas prices in the bay area are $3.39 for regular unleaded. I’m not going to say I get 55-60 mph but I realistically get 40-45 mph average on highway and city.

2. Carpool lane sticker. Love it! My wife uses the Prius to commute over 100 miles a day and uses the carpool lane with no other passengers required. She does belong to a carpool but on some days she is the only person in the car. Many mornings she saves 30-60 minutes on her commute time.

3. Cheap maintenance costs. I have spent a total of $485 on maintenance over two years. Two new tires: $220. Oil Service 4 @ $29 each. 70k mile service $149. New wipers $20. I could probably even save some money on the oil service but am happy with my relationship with Toyota and my customer service representative. In comparison, I have had four or five customer service reps for my SUV.

4. No smog testing or certificate needed for DMV. As I get older I hate waiting in lines and making appointments, and spending between $50-75 just to get a vehicle smog is a waste of time and money. The Prius is a low emission vehicle and not subject to smog requirements in California.

5. No or cheap brake maintenance. I went to my dealer and asked if they could check my brakes during 70k mile service. The service rep said they would but they have never replaced brake pads on the hundreds of Prius’ sold at their dealership. He then explained the benefits of the Prius technology and regenerative braking. More info can be found http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/tech/TechSnapPrius1_5_01b.pdf

I would love to hear from other hybrid owners and post a comment of what you love about your car.

Prius tires on backorder and a 5% discount

2007-11-24T16:40:00.000-08:00

I made it about 20 yards in my Prius before I noticed that the left rear tire was completely flat. I changed the tire and found out that the spare in the trunk is a tiny small dounut of a tire. The Prius tires are small. But, this spare is really small! It even has this really attractive yellow center that makes everyone notice you're driving with a dounut. I just replaced the two front tires three months ago, so luckily the flat happened on the rear tires. I called Costco and they told me they do not carry the tire I needed, a Dunlop P175/65 R14. Costco doesn't sell this tire and said they recommend a different tire. Also, Costco won't replace a single tire at a time. They charge $89.99 to install the tire. I then called Toyota and they said they carry the tire but it costs $110.00 to install and they will replace both rear tires. Total cost $220.00 Unfortunately, after they had my car for a few hours working on oil service and finishing the 70k mile service, they called to tell me that the tires are on backorder and not in their inventory. What? They told me they had the tires in stock and could put them on today. Fortunately, they were able to take a large wood screw out of the tire and repair the leak. The service rep told me the tires are on backorder from Dunlop and they will be available in January. Hopefully, I can avoid wood screws and all sharp metal objects for the next month and a half. I spoke to my service rep and calmly stated that I was frustrated that the tires were not availably after he told me they were in stock. After a short pause, I mentioned that I had an expired coupon that was emailed from Toyota for 5% off service. He quickily told me he would honor that discount and applied the 5% discount to my total of $215 for the 70k mile service. A savings of $10.75. Not a lot, but I'm hoping to get another 5% coupon via email to use on the tires. Or, I could ask my service rep to honor the 5% for the tires too. Spending $200 on my Prius is small compared to my "other" vehicle. I could write for hours on my "other" vehicle. That will be for another day!

New Prosper Account

2007-09-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

Prosper.com is a P2P borrower/lender website that I found while looking for investment and budget information on the web. I was amazed at the returns lenders could make (8%-25%) and wanted to start an account with a few dollars before jumping in with more. It took 5 business days to transfer funds from my checking account over to Prosper. Now I'm able to review borrower profiles and make my selections for loans, a very interesting process. I'm fascinated by the level of detail outlined in borrower’s requests as you kind of feel like a loan officer that is reviewing income, expenses, and savings records. Very interesting! Check out the website Prosper.com, and let me know what you think. Now it’s time to review some profiles and get my $500 to work.