There’s a cool and free way to find local buyers online. Kijiji is eBay’s no-charge, family-friendly local classifieds website. It’s easy to post your free ad. According to a recent survey by Kijiji, 24% of respondents are getting rid of unused household items to make room for guests and new gifts this holiday season. The same percentage of people plan on selling those items to make extra cash.

Kijiji also makes it easy to shop. Perhaps you’re looking for a used guitar? To search for items to buy at Kijiji, enter your ZIP code and click on specific options under bigger headings like pets, housing, jobs, cars and vehicles, services and community. There’s also a general “for sale” option including musical instruments, antiques, appliances, tools and more.

While searching under my ZIP at Kijiji, I found lots of items in my community up for grabs. Some popular items to buy used include fish tanks, furniture, automobiles, musical instruments, bicycles and movies. However, nothing’s perfect! Remember to exercise caution when buying from individuals via Kijiji or by any means. Don’t give out too much personal information, and avoid deals that sound too good to be true.

Have you used Kijiji to buy or sell items? If so, how was your experience?

(Image via stock.xchng)

Post from: Blisstree

Ring in New, Get Rid of Old with Kijiji

Naturally, this is the time where Paul decides it’s time for a career change.

Image: stock.xchng

For the first few weeks, as he started to put out feelers and quietly spread the word that he’s looking, it was easy to just ignore it. As long as we both still have jobs, I can’t exactly complain…right? So I just smiled and listened as best I could. All the time trying to hide the fact that his timing was making me nervous and uncertain about where things would land.

Finally everything came to a head when he turned to me one day and bluntly said, “You never ask.”

“I never ask…what?”

“You never ask how it’s going. If anything has come up. Who I sent my resume to.”

I paused for a few moments to carefully think about my answer. Finally I said,

“That’s because this scares me more than you will ever know. We’re doing alright, both of us know our jobs are pretty secure, and now you want to change all that. I know you don’t love your job…but the selfish part of me is completely overwhelmed at the thought of this kind of change. Right now. With everything going on in the world.”

We talked for a long while after that. About how unhappy he is in his job. Ways we can conserve and continue to build up our savings so we can make our own future instead of constantly wondering what would happen if it all fell apart. I am still nervous – and the thought of changing jobs right now still gives me tremendous anxiety. But I am making more of an effort to swallow my worries a bit (well, as best I can), so I can be the supportive partner Paul needs right now…balancing mention of my concerns with genuine support for his determination and passion for what he does.

It’s all going to work out – but the important thing is that we don’t forget to support each other as we get through it.

Post from: Blisstree

Lesson: How To Be Supportive

USAID, United States Agency for International Development, a federally funded program that distributes 10 billion condoms to poor countries, in an attempt to help curb the spread of AIDS. They will no longer be distributing American-made condoms.

“Of course, we considered how many U.S. jobs would be affected by this move,” said a USAID official who spoke on the condition that he would not be named. But he said the reasons for the change included lower prices (2 cents versus more than 5 cents for U.S.-made condoms) and the fact that Congress dropped “buy American language” in a recent appropriations bill.

Okay, so they are cheaper, which means that they can give out more, but when you look at the track record of recent Chinese products, do you still think that this is a good idea?

First, there’s the loss of 300 American jobs. A company in Alabama called Alatech was the previous USAID program supplier. In case you haven’t noticed, American families are struggling. We certainly don’t need to cut jobs, we need to increase jobs. Banks and auto makers aren’t the only folks going broke.

Second, there’s the Chinese baby formula scare, the Chinese toy scare, the Chinese __________ (fill in the blank) scare. When it comes to health, welfare, and birth control, do we really think cheaper is the best way to go?

I didn’t give it much thought before, but from now on, when I buy condoms, I’m going to make sure that I’m buying American.

Image credit: All Posters.com

Post from: Blisstree

Condoms – Buy American

The end of all night studying, exams, yoga courses to fulfill those last 2 credits, the trek home for the holidays, lame professors whose would-be novels were used as doorstops…and mostly it is the end of loafing around.

But, it is also the beginning. It’s now time to get out there and show the world who you are and what you’ve got to offer. Time to get a J.O.B.! Get your resumes together, write a beautiful introductory letter, use your networking skills…and practice, practice, practice the answer to this interview question: “What do you want to do”?

When I graduated from University, the world was a very different place. There may be some readers who were still in Pampers or not even born…so you might not get a Pac Man reference. The U.S. was in the middle of a deep recession…if you’d just graduated, the pickings were so slim that bartending was considered a white collar job for me and many of my friends.

But today, with the Internet, the digital world, blogging (lol), globalization and a seemingly robust economy, opportunities are everywhere.

My advice to you, so that you do not end up wasting your shiney new diploma — is to figure out what you love and for which you have a passion. Those people who are ultra-successful got to be so because they are absolutely love doing what they do.

Also, I advise you to select a designated driver for all the parties you will be attending…you deserve to celebrate.

Congratulations! You are our future.

Post from: Blisstree

Congratulations 2006 Graduates!

I will start by acknowledging that my hubby does much of the laundry on the weekends. However, it may very well be my imagination, but since I started working from home to manage my business, The Pet Set , I get the distinct feeling that there has been a reversal of roles without my knowledge. For years I commuted to and worked in Manhattan and so did/does hubby; therefore household chores seemed to have been shared equitably.

This Sunday’s New York Times Style Section , covers the issue of the rift in who does more house cleaning with the deft of a Swiffer (the greatest invention ever!)–pointing out that “…women spend twice as much time on housework than their husbands…”

I certainly recognize that since I’m home all day, I may as well do some cleaning…but there is a level of expectation on his part that kills me. He has always been a neat freak and would never leave a dirty cup in the sink. Lately, I feel like the “little woman” or “the Mrs” character from the “I Love Lucy” era. Or maybe I’ve just never noticed what little boys men really are.

I believe there has always been a silent double standard about the person who works from home. I can remember from my corporate days, women calling in for meetings from their home office and those physically present, kind of rolling their eyes at the other person as if to say, “she’s got the life.” I’ve often witnessed a sarcastic undertone…co-workers would use the international symbol of using fingers to illustrate quotation marks: “She’s working from home today.” As if noone really believes you are truly working.

If it were a normal Tuesday at the office or (I love this one) a person’s “real” job…you wouldn’t have to excuse yourself from a meeting to make sure the recycling stuff is put outside, would you? Nor would you have to stop what you are doing because you can’t stand looking at the dirty windows for another second.

And here’s my favorite laps in memory on the part of hubby. He happens to work lower Manhattan, where I once commuted to and from every day. He tells me the “horrors” of his commute…but this is how it sounds to me: “there are these big trains that take you to this place called the train station, where they have these big boats…and then the boats go on the icy water of the Hudson…and you’re not going to believe it…they take you from New Jersey..aaaall the way across to that big city New York…you know, New York?”

But even if you don’t work from home, you can be sure that when push comes to shove, it is the wife who will be the one to make the bed.

Swifers are on sale this week at our grocery store.

Post from: Blisstree

Who Washes The Pants In Your Family?