Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Off To The Park

Today I decided to go to the local park and go diving in the trash cans for pop bottles.

Well, the first thing I learned was to call the city and find out when they dump the cans in the park. Why you ask? Because all of the cans (10 or so) has absolutely nothing in them. Dang, just my luck. I will try again like Sunday evening or so.

With two bottles from work and $.30 I found in the Blockbuster parking lot today, I have added $.50 to my stake.

Balance - $10.43 + $.20 + $.30 = $10.93

$9.55 from completing Step 12!


Til next time.....

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Coke, Pepsi and Mountain Dew!

To help speed up my progress to complete Step 12, I have decided to add bottle collection to my revenue stream.

In my state, Michigan, each pop, beer and energy and juice drink can/bottle has a $.10 deposit charged when you buy it. When the beverage is gone, you take it back and get your dime back. Should make my stake grow a bit faster. ( Read about "The Bottle Return" episode from The Seinfeld Show.)

To be fair, I have set a rule to follow when I collect bottles and it is that it can not be one that me or my family had originally purchased. It must be given to me or found by me. So, off to increase my stake.

Til next time.....

Monday, August 28, 2006

Money Saving Tips!

I was surfing the web, trying to develop some ideas that I may be able to use to double my stake and ran across the No Credit Needed Blog. They are running a Your Very, Very Best Money Saving Tips contest and after much thought I have decided to enter.

Why did I have to think about entering? Well I didn't just want to plop down any money saving tip and leave it at that. I also wanted it to be one that may be used for me or someone else to be able to complete a step in their doubling project. So here it is!

My Very, Very Best Money Saving Tip......................Garage Sales!

Garage sales are especially great for children and baby clothes. Kids out grow clothes faster than they can wear them out. Therefore you can usually get fairly new clothes at bargain prices. Also, the more affluent neighborhoods tend to have unbelievable deals.

A way that garage sales can help you complete a step in doubling is by buying cheap and selling high. Try visiting some garage sales and buying stuff cheap. Now take it home and have your own yard sale, but mark up the prices(double, maybe?) and boom it shouldn't take long to complete the step.

I want to thank No Credit Needed for throwing the contest and hope they reach their goal of 100 money saving tips.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

By The Way

I added Gerard's Blog to the Blogroll. Gerard was my springboard into this project. He is very insiteful and quite a good blogger.

I suggest you look at Gerard's recommended reading for books to add to your list if you have not read them.

I wish Gerard the best of luck in his endeavor and a big thanks for his inspiration.

Til next time.....

Why Am I Doing This?

I meant to address this earlier, before I actually started the project, but put it on the back burner til now.

So why am I doing this? For Fame and Fortune? Fortune, maybe, not so much fame. Some remarks I have seen are "this will take forever", "too many steps" etc...

Here are the main reasons I am doing this.
  1. Money - If I complete all 28 steps then I know I will have enough cash to live off of for a very long time, for me and my family, very comfortably.
  2. Goals - I have never really been much of a goal setter in my life. With this project, I will have to set short and long term goals and achieve them. Much like any business has to do to survive.
  3. Helping Others - If any one thing in this helps just one person, than it will have been worth it.
  4. Develop Writing Skills - I have always wanted to write a book/screenplay. I hope that this will give my mind enough exercise to develop a unique and entertaining style.

That is basically why I am doing this. I hope all who visit will come back and see my progress and cheer me on.

By the way I found nothing to add to the stake today.

Til next time.....

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Blogroll Added!

I have added a blogroll of some interesting blogs I have found on the net since I have started this project. Expect this number to increase as I look for more information and ideas to double my stake.

Feel free to let me know of any blogs that you know of that you feel may be helpful.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich gives honest, straight forward money saving advice. Ramit Sethi writes his blog aimed at college students, recent grads and other young people. Well this forty-two year old young person particular likes the Friday Entrepreneurs column. So visit it today and enjoy.

Everybody Loves Your Money is a collection of tidbits on sound financial ideas and some are pretty funny too!

Til next time.....

Dryspell Broken!

Well, somebody let the air out of the parachute! It was a dry few days as my searches found nothing.

When I first started, I was not used to looking for money and it was poppin' up all over the place. Now that I have trained myself to look everywhere, all of the time, I can't find anything! What's the deal? Oh well.

My dryspell finally ended last night as I found a dime in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Yeah!

Barring a huge find this step will definitely take a little longer to complete then the first few. But, I am an optimist and know that I will complete this step and the whole project.

My dilemma right now is if I should just stick to the penny here a penny there concept or move on to some kind of new investment strategy.

If I move to something new, I have a good chance of getting set back a few steps if the new strategy doesn't work out. Plus, I really don't have enough stake money to buy anything to resell or something like that.

I have enough to buy 3 packs of sports cards and try to sell them, but that is almost a crapshoot.

A few years ago I sold cinnamon toothpicks online and did fairly well. But the minimum purchase was a case and that is over $100. So maybe I'll save that for some later step.


I think I will just be a parking lot cleaner for awhile. At least till this step is over.

Balance - $10.33 + $.10 = $10.43

$10.05 from completing Step 12!

til next time.....

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Don't Forget About Work!

Was walking around at work today and found a quarter and six pennies to add to my stake money. Hope it keeps going like this, it is making the Steps go quickly, another one down!

Although I may have to change my strategy in a couple steps, cause completing Step 13 by finding pennies may take awhile. But, Rule #7 says not to worry about that till I get there, so I won't. In fact I may have to do something different for Step 12! Yikes!

Step 11 - Complete!

Balance - $10.02 + $.01 + $.01 + $.01 + $.01 + $.01 + $.01 + $.25 = $10.33

$10.15 from completing Step 12!

Til next time.....

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Leapfrog!

Went to Wal-Mart last night to pick a few things up. The trip was pretty much uneventful until I left.

On the way out something caught my eye on the way to the car. I did a double take and it looked like a dollar bill. No way I thought to myself. But I was shocked after I picked it up.

It wasn't a dollar bill. It was a $5 dollar bill. As I unfolded it, I discovered another one! $10!!! Holy cow! I looked around and no one was looking for anything. I found it in the middle of a parking spot and the adjacent spots were open, so it wasn't hidden from everyone.

It is strange, since I have started this, how money has just started showing up. Is it because I am actually looking for it now or is some other force helping?!

I had to hide my enthusiasm from my kids as my family does not know anything about my project. If they did, this $10 would be gone by now!

If you have read Stuart Goldsmith's report(see earlier links), you know that if you find money it can be added to your stake money and immediately leapfrogs you to a new step.

So with that and my current balance, I have leapfrogged to Step 11!

Also add a penny I found at the gas station after we left Wal-Mart.

Step Two - Ten - Complete! Balance - $.01 + $.01+ $10.00 = $10.02

$.22 from completing Step 11!

Til next time.....

Friday, August 18, 2006

Here We Go!

Now that I am all caught up on the background for this project, I decided to start my journey a few days ago while on vacation with my family.

We went to the Mt Olympus Water and Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, WI. It was part of my daughters' birthday present. I pondered on whether to start then or after our trip, but figured a large theme park like this would be a great start for my project. ( Also try the famous "Duck Boats" if you are ever in the Wisconsin Dells)

As we walked in to the park, the screams of frantic ride goers and smells of carnival sweets filled our noses and set the kids wanting to go in ten different directions. This pandemonium fogged any memory of starting my project.

As we were standing in line for some goodies, the 'magical' first penny caught my eye on the ground in front of me. A big rush of "accomplishment" filled within me and a huge smile went on my face.

A new sense of priority was instilled into me with the discovery of that penny, and now my mission was to find more! But, sad to say I ended the day with just one penny. No matter I will find more!

Step One - Complete! Balance - $.01

Thursday, August 17, 2006

The Steps!

Below are the 28 steps and what each level entails.

Step 1 - Find a penny or be given one without asking!
Step 2 - $.01 - $.02 (start with $.01, receive another to reach $.02)
Step 3 - $.02 - $.04
Step 4 - $.04 - $.08
Step 5 - $.08 - $.16
Step 6 - $.16 - $.32
Step 7 - $.32 - $.64
Step 8 - $.64 - $1.28
Step 9 - $1.28 - $2.56
Step 10 - $2.56 - $5.12
Step 11 - $5.12 - $10.24
Step 12 - $10.24 - $20.48
Step 13 - $20.48 - $40.96
Step 14 - $40.96 - $81.92
Step 15 - $81.92 - $163.84
Step 16 - $163.84 - $327.68
Step 17 - $327.68 - $655.36
Step 18 - $655.36 - $1,310.72
Step 19 - $1,310.72 - $2,621.44
Step 20 - $2,621.44 - $5,242.88
Step 21 - $5,242.88 - $10,485.76
Step 22 - $10,485.76 - $20,971.52
Step 23 - $20,971.52 - $41,943.04
Step 24 - $41,943.04 - $83,886.08
Step 25 - $83,886.08 - $167,772.16
Step 26 - $167,772.16 - $335,544.32
Step 27 - $335,544.32 - $671,088.64
Step 28 - $671,088.64 - $1,342,177.28

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Rules 10, 11, 12 & 13!

There are 13 rules altogether that will guide me through this project.

Today we will go over Rules 10, 11, 12 & 13. Further explanations and examples are included on Mr. Goldsmiths report. Find It Here!

Rule 10 - You must use only the stake money, not 'stolen' or 'hidden' resources.

Rule 11 - If you fail on a step, you must drop down to the step that corresponds to the remaining money you have.

Rule 12 - You are allowed to add labor.

Rule 13 - Use the stake money to create a value which you can sell for more.

Till next time.....

Rules 7, 8 & 9!

There are 13 rules altogether that will guide me through this project.

Today we will go over Rules 7, 8 & 9. Further explanations and examples are included on Mr. Goldsmiths report. Find It Here!

Rule 7 - Don't worry about how you are going to manage future doublings. Concentrate only on the current doubling.

Rule 8 - You are not allowed to spend one penny of the money(apart from the stake) until you have completed Step 28! (This is probably the hardest rule!)

Rule 9 - You must not divert money into the system which you would have got anyway had you not been doing the system!

Till next time.....

Rules 4, 5 & 6!

There are 13 rules altogether that will guide me through this project.

Today we will go over Rules 4, 5 & 6. Further explanations and examples are included on Mr. Goldsmiths report. Find It Here!

Rule 4 - If your current step results in more than doubling, then you must spend the surplus on yourself.

Rule 5 - If your current action results in less than doubling, then you may use as much of the original stake and profit to complete this step.

Rule 6 - You must keep a Diary of events. (This is my Diary)

Till next time.....

Rules 1, 2 & 3!

There are 13 rules altogether that will guide me through this project.

Today we will go over Rules 1, 2 & 3. Further explanations and examples are included on Mr. Goldsmiths report. Find It Here!

Rule 1 - You must find or be given(without asking) the first $.01! You can not use one of your own pennies.

Rule 2 - You must use only the stake money during the current doubling attempt.

Rule 3 - During the first fifteen steps, you must use the actual coins and/or bills gained in the preceding step.

Till next time.....

How Double2Mil Came About!

I can't remember exactly the first time I heard this story, but it has always fascinated me. It goes something like this.

A boy goes into a local store and asked the owner for a job. The owner tells the boy that he isn't hiring at this time.

The boy then thanks the owner and leaves. The boy comes in everyday to see if there is an opening, only to leave again rejected.

Finally after a week of this the boy tells the owner that if he hires him, he will start out at $.01 a day as long as the owner would double that everyday for 30 days.

The owner thinks for a second (laughing in his head at the kid) and agrees to the deal.

Well, as the story goes, 30 days later the store owner handed the kid the keys to the store because he was unable to pay the boy the wage that they had agreed upon.

I was dumbfounded by this and immediately started doing the math. WOW! Even after I had it figured out, it still seemed impossible.

Check out this link that provides a similar story written by Cindy Lanius.

Cindy's Story

So after a recent search on Google about this topic, I only came up with one relative match beside Cindy's paper. (This almost astounded me more than the story did.)

It was a blog about a man, who started with nothing and was doubling his money to a million dollars. He his the inspiration for this blog. Please check out Gerard's progress at the following link.

Gerard's Blog

Gerard's inspiration was a report written by Stuart Goldsmith entitled "How to Double Your Way to Million in 28 Steps". You may read this report in the following link.

Stuart Goldsmith's Report

Mr Goldsmith is the author of 'The Midas Method', 'Seven Secrets of the Millionaires" among others. After reading this report, I too, decided to embark on a mission to double my way to a million dollars, starting with absolutly nothing.

In future posts on Double2Mil, I will go over the rules that have been set by Mr. Goldsmith that will guide me in my endeavor. Once the groundrules have been set, I will keep you posted on my progress, what I have learned along the way and whatever else that may cross my path on this journey to a million.

Feel free to post comments or to start you own doubling effort. Till next time...