Rule No.8：If necessary，make a little extra money off your kitchen stove.
If after you budget your expenses wisely you still find that you don’t have enough to make ends meet，you can then do one of two things：you can either scold，fret，worry，and complain，or you can plan to make a little additional money on the side.How？Well，all you have to do to make money is to fill an urgent need that isn’t being adequately filled now.That is what Mrs.Nellie Speer，37-0983rd Street，Jackson Heights，New York，did.In 1932，she found herself living alone in a three-room apartment.Her husband had died，and both of her children were married.One day，while having some ice-cream at a drug-store soda fountain，she noticed that the fountain was also selling bakery pies that looked sad and dreary.She asked the proprietor if he would buy some real home-made pies from her.He ordered two.“Although I was a good cook，”Mrs.Speer said，as she told me the story，“I had always had servants when we lived in Georgia，and I had never baked more than a dozen pies in my life.After getting that order for two pies，I asked a neighbour woman how to cook an apple-pie.The sodafountain customers were delighted with my first two home-baked pies，one apple，one lemon.The drugstore ordered five the next day.Then orders gradually came in from other fountains and luncheonettes.
Within two years，I was baking five thousand pies a year—I was doing all the work myself in my own tiny kitchen，and I was making a thousand dollars a year clear，without a penny’s expense except the ingredients that went into the pies.”
The demand for Mrs.Speer’s home-baked pastry became so great that she had to move out of her kitchen into a shop and hire two girls to bake for her：pies，cakes，bread，and rolls.During the war，people stood in line for an hour at a time to buy her home-baked foods.
“I have never been happier in my life，”Mrs.Speer said.“I work in the shop twelve to fourteen hours a day，but I don’t get tired because it isn’t work to me.It is an adventure in living.I am doing my part to make people a little happier.I am too busy to be lonesome or worried.My work has filled a gap in my life left vacant by the passing of my mother and husband and my home.”
When I asked Mrs.Speer if she felt that other women who were good cooks could make money in their spare time in a similar way，in towns of ten thousand and up，she replied：“Yes—of course they can！”
Mrs.Ora Snyder will tell you the same thing.She lives in a town of thirty thousand—Maywood，Illinois.Yet she started in business with the kitchen stove and ten cents’worth of ingredients.Her husband fell ill.She had to earn money.But how？No experience.No skill.No capital.Just a housewife.She took the white of an egg and sugar and made some candy on the back of the kitchen stove；then she took her pan of candy and stood near the school and sold it to the children for a penny a piece as they went home.“Bring more pennies tomorrow，”she said.“I’ll be here every day with my home-made candy.”During the first week，she not only made a profit，but had also put a newzest into living.She was making both herself and the children happy.No time now for worry.
This quiet little housewife from Maywood，Illinois，was so ambitious that she decided to branch out—to have an agent sell her kitchen-made candy in roaring，thundering Chicago.She timidly approached an Italian selling peanuts on the street.He shrugged his shoulders.His customers wanted peanuts，not candy.She gave him a sample.He liked it，began selling her candy，and made a good profit for Mrs.
Snyder on the first day.Four years later，she opened her first store in Chicago.It was only eight feet wide.She made her candy at night and sold it in the daytime.This erstwhile timid housewife，who started her candy factory on her kitchen stove，now has seventeen stores-fifteen of them in the busy Loop district of Chicago.
Here is the point I am trying to make.Nellie Speer，in Jackson Heights，New York，and Mrs.Ora Snyder，in May-wood，Illinois，instead of worrying about finances，did something positive.They started in an extremely small way to make money off the kitchen stove-no overhead，no rent，no advertising，no salaries.Under these conditions，it is almost impossible for a woman to be defeated by financial worries.
Look around you.You will find many needs that are not filled.For example，if you train yourself to be a good cook，you can probably make money by starting cooking classes for young girls right in your own kitchen.You can get your students by ringing door-bells.
Books have been written about how to make money in your spare time；inquire at your public library.There are many opportunities for both men and women.But one word of warning：unless you have a natural gift for selling，don’t attempt door-to-door selling.Most people hate it and fail at it.
