The Happy Homeowner

How I’m Turning My Passions into Viable Sources of Income

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Jen

Anyone who knows me (or who has read this blog for a while) knows that I’m always looking for creative ways to add income streams. While I do hold a part-time job in addition to my full-time work responsibilities, I pride myself on finding fun, interesting ways to boost my bottom line.

In particular, I’m most interested in securing ways to make money from the activities and experiences I’m most passionate about. Here’s how I’m currently doing this with regards to a few key passions of mine:

Running

On Sunday, I secured a contracted, part-time position with a local company that provides running tours of Boston. Essentially, I will be paired up with tourists/visitors as a tour guide. The really neat twist is that I’ll be conducting tours of the city while running.

While this certainly won’t be a way to bring in significant amounts of income due to my schedule constraints, it’s a fun, healthy way to meet people and show them my city. It’s a pretty sweet bonus that I’ll be paid $30/hour to do so!

Living a Healthy Lifestyle

For the past 8 months or so, I’ve been working in a very, very part-time capacity for Clif Bar. Basically, I get paid to attend various sports event expos and festivals, interact with fellow athletes, and give away free food. Another awesome bonus of this gig is that the company wants us to sample the goods ourselves, so I’m always heading home with boxes & boxes of product after each shift!

Recently, I was able to parlay the Clif gig into a position on the LUNA team, which has led to one of the best perks yet. In June, I’ll get to be part of the team attending the Wanderlust Festival in Vermont. The festival is a weekend filled with hiking, yoga, meditation, healthy living lectures, music, and food.Tickets range from $99 for a Sunday-only pass to $475 for the complete weekend.

The part that’s nearly too good to be true?? I’ll be headed up there for the entire weekend, compliments of LUNA. Not only do I just have to work one shift/day, but I also get to take full advantage of all festival amenities and classes, stay in a great hotel, and have all of my meals provided—for FREE. I’ll also be making the standard hourly wage during my shifts…

Have you turned your passions into income streams? If so, which ones & how?

Photo credit: El Frito

Hello! My Name is Jen and I am a Reformed Spendaholic…

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Jen

A short break in the middle of my first ultra marathon

Welcome to HH 2.0!

Wow, what a week it’s been. When I had originally posted my wonderful HH 2.0 update, I had every intention of making this new site live within 2-3 days. Little did I know that the Google Gods had a bit more of a wait in mind. However, with the fantastic, kick-ass resources of Miss Andrea from Nuts and Bolts Media, I’m proud to welcome you to the Happy Homeowner’s new look & feel.

In addition to the wonderful changes this blog is undergoing (there will be a few more so bear with me!), I finally feel prepared to make a monumental personal decision. With this post, I’m officially stepping out from behind the anonymity shadow.

At the summit of my first 14er (I’m in the middle): Quandry Peak in CO, baby!

Therefore, I offer the following list to help you get acquainted with me, Jen, the owner/writer of The Happy Homeowner:

Getting to Know Jen

Even though I’m a horrible dancer, I loooove to dance around wildly, especially when making dinner, getting ready in the morning, or generally being overly excited about something quite random. I also love to dance/jump on the bed and it’s often the first thing I do after entering a hotel room while away.
I eat and drink my way through the grocery store. Once, I ate a banana while shopping, so I took another one of similar size up to the cashier and asked her to weigh it, charge me, then put it back as I couldn’t take it with me seeing as how I had already eaten the other one. I’m always hoping that there’s a trash can under the register so I can throw away/recycle the various (empty!) boxes, bags, and/or bottles after I’m charged for the items that I’ve already consumed before leaving the store. The looks from the cashiers are always entertaining as they range from full-on disgust to amusement.
I should have been on that now-defunct VH1 show, Motormouth. I sing horribly and loudly while driving as I find it helps to distract me from my other tendency of shaking my fist at the Massholios (my term for the lovely MA drivers).
I love school! I’ve completed my Bachelors degree, two Masters degrees, a few certificates, and am currently working my way through a third Masters.
I don’t watch much TV and don’t have cable, but I am obsessed with HGTV. I would love, love, love to meet pretty much any of the stars of the network in-person, but I hold a special place in my heart for Mike Holmes (Mike, if you’re reading this, please hire me to help you “Make it Right!!”). You can usually find me tinkering around in my house or the homes of friends & family because once I see something I like on HGTV, I always have to give it a try on my own.
I’ve been told that I make people tired by them simply being around me. I take this as a compliment and figure it’s a testament to my boundless, abundant energy. Some may simply say that I’m an undiagnosed case of ADHD…haha!
I’ve been a runner for 19 years. In that time, I’ve run one 50-mile ultra marathon, 20+ regular marathons, and countless halfs, 10Ks, 5Ks, etc. I joke that running and cycling are the only sports I’m truly coordinated enough for.
If I’m sleeping, you’ll often hear me talking in my sleep. I once had an entire conversation with my mother, then remembered nothing of the sort upon waking up. Apparently, I told her that the cat needed to go for a walk and that she better take care of it after feeding the birds. The funny part? There were no pets in our family at the time!
I find relief from stress by exercising, spending time with friends/family, and cleaning and organizing. Call me crazy, but I absolutely love to clean and organize!
I love thunderstorms. I grew up on a lake, and I would beg to sit outside and watch them roll in. I also love to run, bike, and dance in the rain as well as sleep with the windows open when it’s raining. One of my favorite things on Earth to smell is nature after a good downpour.
I used to hold a Class-A skydiving license. In my life, I’ve jumped out of a plane over 30 times.
My favorite meal is a huge bowl of mac & cheese with spinach, tomato, and shrimp along with a Tripel Karmeliet. I fully consider myself to be a mac & cheese AND beer connoisseur, and I’ve found that my knowledge of beer sometimes exceeds that of my male friends and family members.
I’m signed up to run the 2015 Antarctica Marathon with a good friend. I’m looking forward to running with the penguins and seals, but I hope I don’t lose the trail and end up stranded in the Arctic Tundra!!
As soon as I have the money saved, I jet off on whatever my next dream destination happens to be because I’m an avid traveler. I seriously want to see the entire world, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. If I were to ever have a little bambino, you bet your bootay that little bugger would be strapped to my chest as I go gallivanting around. Although, I would definitely play it a bit safer if there was a child involved, haha!
I have two of the craziest kitties you’ll ever meet. I firmly believe they have an identity crisis and think they’re dogs, but I get a kick out of their shenanigans. What I could do without is them getting into my cabinets and eating all of my snacks (especially the Goldfish crackers), tearing up my shower curtains as they attempt to scale them, and their incessant need to have what I refer to as “Kitty Circus Time” each morning at 5AM (basically, they run wild through the house and jump on, paw at, and head-butt me until I get up and feed them).
I’m an incredible source of very random knowledge, and I seem to have one hell of a memory. It’s somewhat photographic as I can recall details about spaces, arrangements, etc. quite well. I’d like to think that this assists me in the intelligence realm, but I’m not sure if that’s simply wishful thinking.
I once decided to take a week-long trip to Hawaii with a day’s notice. Please note that this wasn’t one of my finest moments of self restraint or fiscal responsibility!
I reeeeeally want to have a Lazy River in my future home someday.
I’m a sucker for motivational quotes. The cheesier, the better. I even made an entire board to hang on my office wall, but I will admit that they have gotten me through many tough days!
I once drove myself to the emergency room after crashing into a tree while doing some back country snowboarding, and I asked the doctor if there was a cast that existed that would allow me to ride again the next day.
It’s quite hard for me to sit still. In fact, working in an office environment is somewhat horrible for me as I don’t like to be sitting all day. Luckily, most places I’ve worked have appreciated my need to move and haven’t seemed to mind when I randomly take breaks to run the stairs or walk laps around the parking lot. They also love my random stretching/strength-training breaks–especially when they walk by and see me doing the Phantom Chair in my office while on the phone or bouncing up & down on an exercise ball!
While I’m certainly a people person, I’m also a fierce competitor. It’s highly unlikely that I’ll give up in a race or challenge. Honing this tenacity has given me the ability to apply this knowledge in all areas of my life, especially when it comes to managing my finances.
I’m extremely loyal. It’s somewhat scary what I’ll do in an effort to stick up for my family and friends. Nothing illegal, but I have definitely been known to speak my mind from time to time….
I love to make funny noises–especially when it’s inappropriate to do so. I once had a few friends ask me if they could record me for a day then compile a CD with all the “Jen” noises.
I once was hit by a car during my bike commute to work, but I still managed to make it into the office that day. I did take a week off from biking after that…
While exercising my inner DIY diva, I convinced an ex BF that he absolutely had to have a bright green shag rug for his dining room. He ended up loving it.
The CEO of a company I used to work at once asked me what the hell I was eating my lunch out of–was it a trough?–in reference to the gigantic, serving-sized bowl I eat my daily salad out of.
I hope to someday own a pet monkey, duck, a few llamas, and various rodents in addition to my crazy kitties, a dog, some fish, and a talking parrot.
When I was getting my home appraised for my refinancing, the appraiser fell in love with me to the point of asking me if she could set me up with either of her two sons. It was interesting that my appraised value came back $5K more than what I’d purchased my property for–in the midst of the real estate/property value meltdown….bahahaha…
I own a full spread of power tools…and I know how to use them!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming….

The UK Are To Become A Generation of Renters, Will The US Follow?

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Jen

The following is a post written by a guest contributor…

According to a 2011 study conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NCSR), nearly two thirds of the people living in Britain believe that they have no chance, financially, of ever being able to afford to buy their own home.

Brits Turn To Renting

The study, which included people aged 20-45, concluded that the current generation of British workers has become a generation of renters rather than homeowners. This mimics a situation that has already become something of the norm for a large percentage of people living in many European countries, as well as the United States.

In spite of these results, however, three out of four survey participants still expressed a desire to eventually purchase a home of their own.

Experts who conducted the study added that most of the 8,000 people interviewed believed that one of their biggest obstacles to property ownership was the reluctance of banks, in the current economic climate, to approve loans.

Survey participants also said that they had no desire to go through the complicated process, not to mention stress, of applying for a mortgage.

According to the study, 84 percent of potential borrowers expressed certainty that a bank would not give them a loan and would even look for excuses to reject the application.

Likewise, 92 percent of the survey participants said that they believed it would be extremely difficult for a first time homebuyer to get any kind of a mortgage.

The survey also revealed another obstacle and that is the large cash down payments required for many home purchases. The majority of survey participants admitted that they would be unwilling to scrimp, save and sacrifice just in order to save the cash required for a deposit on a new home.

Some housing experts have expressed concerns that if the results of the study represent the beliefs of the mainstream population, the housing market may be in for a slow period in the foreseeable future.

Tempted To Buy?

Studies like this one have spurred some banks to create loan incentives to encourage first time borrowers to take the first step toward home ownership. Along with these incentives, banks and mortgage companies are also offering personalized financial planning advice for prospective homeowners.

According to mortgage and lending specialists, before deciding that a loan application would be automatically rejected, potential homeowners should do their own homework and seek financial advice from a personal banker or lending expert.

A financial specialist can help a prospective homeowner budget for a down payment and can even show borrowers how they can negotiate to trim thousands of dollars off this initial cash deposit.

By researching reputable financial sources such as www.moneysupermarket.com/ you can learn all the ins and outs of applying for a mortgage.

Additionally, you can also find ways to manage your finances so that the prospect of eventual home ownership can become an economically viable reality, instead of an out of reach, impossible dream.

Photo credit: James Thompson

The Happy Homeowner: Version 2.0

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Jen

Via: wwarby

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”

~John F. Kennedy

Despite the big changes happening in my professional life, I’ve decided to march onward with my plan to overhaul this blog (because really, what’s another ball in the air right now, eh?) Over the next few days, you may not see much happening because a ton is going on behind the scenes:

I’ll be moving from Blogger to WordPress
The look, feel, and navigation of the new site will be completely different than what you see here
I’m going to step out of the anonymity shadow (gulp!)
Maybe, just maybe, I’ll share a photo of myself–perhaps on Twitter, perhaps on the new blog, perhaps on both

In the spirit of all things HH 2.0, I’m reaching out to you for your advice, criticisms, and opinions about The Happy Homeowner (even if you’re just passing by–I’d definitely like to hear your first impression(s) if you are!). In the comments, I’d love if you could share:

What you like about this blog in terms of design
What you would like to see added for version 2.0
What you don’t want to see carried over to WordPress
What you’re most interesting in reading about
Your thoughts on introducing content from my other blog (DIY, Home Improvement, and Decor)
Any additional insights you have

So bear with me as I make a truly epic change to how things are operating around here. It’s time to lay my cards on the table in more than just the professional environment, and I look forward to bringing you one hell of an upgrade….