You aren't looking to start a home business to pressure your friends into buying something they don't want, can't use and don't need.
You just want money.
You don't want to sell phone cards, gift cards, water filters or garden products.
You just need to make some money - FAST!
I had just got married and I was about to be evicted.
My wife was 3 months pregnant and the choice we were looking at was homelessness or a shelter.
I had not dreamed of this when we were dating.
I had a good job and was looking to a bright future, climbing the corporate ladder, making more money, buying a new car and then getting a bigger, nicer house.
In fact, I expected a big promotion soon.
But the day before my big promotion, my boss called me into her office.
I was thinking I had the date wrong - not that such things are really nailed down in advance, but you know how office gossip goes.
But when I went into her office and closed the door, I immediately knew something was wrong.
The look on her face told the whole story.
"Peter," she said, "I know you are expecting a big promotion, you've done a great job and all your co-workers say how hard you work and how easy you are to get along with..."
"Uh, oh," my mind was racing. Something is wrong here. This isn't going the way it should if it was good news. Maybe they have had to delay the promotion by a few months. I would be upset I thought, but if I stuck it out, I knew my time would come again. So what happened next floored me.
"The company's sales last quarter didn't meet our expectations. In fact, sales have been declining for the last several quarters. Management has decided to reorganize operations. We are restructuring your department and, - well, - I'm sorry to say, but your position has been eliminated."
My world turned upside down.
All my hopes and dreams exploded right before me.
That new car, that nice house, vacations to DisneyWorld with our child - gone.
She said something else about giving me a good recommendation, but I must admit, I don't recall exactly what else she said.
I do recall she said I had until the end of the day to clean out my desk.
I'm a man so I hate to admit it, but I turned my head so she couldn't see the tears running down my face.
I was hit right in the heart, I felt betrayed, lost, hopeless, angry, depressed, sad - a whole mix of emotions running through me all at once.
I mumbled something and made my way to the men's room.
After about 15 minutes or so, I came out and went back to my cubicle.
From the looks of my co-workers as I walked by, I could see that the office grapevine had already filled in for everybody what had just transpired in my bosses office.
Many turned their heads as I walked by, some looked at me with sadness or shock. A couple I knew seemed to be gloating.
As I was filling a box with the few personal possessions they let us have at "our" cubicles, a couple of my best friends/co-workers stopped by to offer their condolences.
There wasn't anything they could do of course - my future was ruined - over - as far as I was concerned.
I dreaded that ride home.
I had to tell my wife what happened. That I had been fired - let go, because of corporate restructuring.
There would be no more fancy dinners, no more nights on the town, no more karaoke with our friends. We would have to save every last penny now.
The money we had just started saving for a honeymoon would now have to be used to pay for our bills until I found work again - hopefully very soon.
My wife cried herself to sleep that night.
I felt like such a failure.
I admit I cried too.
Days went by. I sent out resumes - dozens of resumes.
One week turned into two, then three, after a hundred resume's I had received precisely No responses - zero, zilch, nada.
200 resumes, 300, four weeks, five. Two months went by so fast and our bank account was shrinking fast.
And then the next rent bill came in. And I had a choice to make. I could pay the rent, but I would have to pay something else that was also due now at a later time.
Tough choice, but my wife and I made it together.
I am proud to say she stayed with me every step of the way, supporting me, finding ways to make meals out of - whatever she could find.
Cleaning with soap and water instead of more expensive cleaners.
After a few months we declared bankruptcy. Our bills were piling up and it came down to eating and keeping a roof over our head or paying for stuff we didn't really need - like cable, like magazine subscriptions and internet newsletters, etc.
It was right about then I found this - the "Fat Green Monkey." What a stupid name I thought.
I passed it by the first time.
I even passed it by the second time.
But the third time I read a little and decided less than half way through that it was all some sort of scam.
But I saw it again, with a different reference number at the bottom.
"Something's going on here," I thought. So I paid more attention this time.
I hadn't heard of cash gifting before.
I looked into it.
It's legal, but if you plan to make an income from it, you have to pay taxes just as if you are self-employed, otherwise it's perfectly legal.
"But does it work?" I thought.
Every once in a while I would see another ad - on Craigslist, Backpage, in a local newspaper.
The entry point was only $25 - not a big deal.
I talked with my wife and decided to send in our $25.
We got $20 back in just a couple of days.
But then a few more days went by and we got nothing.
"Just a scam," I thought, but my wife didn't give up.
She kept posting ads just like it told us to.
Then it happened.
$20.
Another $20.
Another $20.
And another and another.
We upgraded, once, twice. And then again.
A bit more time went by before we upgraded to the $100 level.
By then we were making $200 to $300 a day, 6 days a week.
Some days we made more.
From there we never looked back.
Our income is now more in one week than I made in one month at my corporate job.
No, we aren't rich, but life is looking good once more.
Oh, my little girl is 3.
Posted by Peter Astor Ref # A-01009
