Perhaps put your baking interest to another use with some sort of kitchen blog, maybe showing off your baking talents. Really cute decorated stuff people would send their friends to come see. With ads on the blog and possible Amazon kickbacks when people click through your page to buy bakeware or something like that (Look at the castle cake you made and everybody can make one too with the castle pan!) you could make some money (possibly) without having to put money in. It would not be much but it sure would beat paying for materials you may never earn a return on.

[quote=davymuncher][quote=temps_bons]Not only all of what has already been said, our economy is so tough right now people aren't buying anything that they can live without (including divorces...seriously) and when they do buy the things they need they are going to discount stores. (Per the news) I have sold items like this and this way (even when I was in college and about your age) and no one has any money at 18-21 to spend on anything other than makeup, books, pizza, gas, clothes, (needs). Even the young adults who are married with children are struggling in general. The age group with money is generally the late 30's - late 40's -- after that people have what they need and think of retirement. The only reason I made any money was because I was a server at a restaurant with a lot of regular male customers who loved the idea of me bringing gifts to them already wrapped that they could just hand to their wives. None of my friends or college contacts ever bought anything but they were happy to host parties which was just a TON of work for me before during and after the party and no sales. These are generalizations but I'd say keep that money in your bank account(s). Selling anything is hard, people are suspicious by nature now. I try to tell people about some products I use that really are the best things ever for about 100 reasons that are proven with research just because I love them, not because I sell them and they still aren't interested. These products are things everyone NEEDS and uses on daily basis but they still aren't interested! The really successful sellers are trained in the 100's of barriers to sales (what the barriers are and how to overcome people's objections to buying things) and still get 24 no's for every 25-ish attempts. I don't know if that ratio is correct but it's close. ~ Mimi ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ temps_bons graphics ~ http://www.neopets.com/~Mimi_Miaulement[/quote] In a way you're right... and in a way you're way off. Just a couple days ago there was this thing in our news that was talking about a poor divorced woman trying to make her children's Christmas special. The entire story was just like "poor her, how alone she is, how touching." Then it said how the children were asking for a Xbox 360 and something else, I think it was a huge flat screen TV. I don't remember specifically, but people place their 'needs' in really odd places... I can see how it could be enjoyable to get some sort of game system that isn't a PS1, but I know I don't need it and neither does this poor lady's spoiled children... if she is poor she shouldn't be able to afford the electricity to run that stuff, much less buy it. Though back to the OP, yeah I don't think you need that stuff, I've heard that Pampered Chef stuff is kinda junky, for example the blades on some of the knives are covered by warranty for time and eternity, but the handles aren't, so the butt of the knife brakes and they can call it abuse. I say don't do it, if it doesn't sell you loose, if it does sell you don't make much. --- Step outside, take a breath of fresh air, then look down to see if you have a new text message.[/quote] I think people always need entertainment and it is much cheaper for my kids to play a game or the computer than take them skiing! Children have no clue and don't really care how poor their parents are, they still want the things all kids want (bikes, newest game system, nice television, etc.) Poor is a relative term too. Being completely homeless is one kind of poor and another is only being able to afford the things you have to have to live (food, shelter, clothing, water, electricity, phone, etc.). If I was wondering if I was going to have a job next week and needed some pans I'd buy them from Walmart and use the other $75 for something else. ~ Mimi ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ temps_bons graphics ~ http://www.neopets.com/~Mimi_Miaulement

An example will probably help. If you don't mind writing and photography, Rachie, put your baking to use for you with a blog about your creations. You could have a bakery blog of what you are making and show it off through the blog. Take Cake Wrecks for instance (but yours would be a good looking cakes site). http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ There are Google ads on the left side and bookstore links on the right. The blogger makes money when somebody views her page and also gets a commission if somebody goes to the bookstores through her page and then buys anything. I see there is even a disclosure page that explains how she earns money through the blog which is handy for this post. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/05/cw-disclosure-policy.html For you this could mean something like blogging about popovers you make for a Sunday morning with the recipe and a picture. Next week a super adorable castle shaped cake for a niece's birthday party. Your friends and relatives come to see your blog to see what you are up to and Aunt Ida buys the"Enchanted Castle Cake Pan" you used and a party planning idea book. Your cousin follows the Amazon link and gets sidetracked into buying the "Escaflowne: Complete Collection" DVDs and later on Amazon sends you a payment for some small percent of what they purchased because they drove traffic to them. Your family is still buying things through you like cookware sales but with a much larger store carrying many more things they might want. It also beats having to spend money upfront then hope to sell enough to make a profit. The blog would also help get your name out there as a baker and might get local people coming to you for party cakes and stuff like that. On the other hand a blog can be a lot of work with little profit, why not just go directly to a bakery job for experience and steady income?

I was judging by if she's poor enough to be written about in a newspaper as how touching that shes scrimping and saving to give a good present, she shouldn't be giving a great game system. You don't need to go skiing to have much fun, but either that mother needs to learn to say No or average/"poor" people to have money for major embellishments in life. That was my point. --- Step outside, take a breath of fresh air, then look down to see if you have a new text message.