Dialing for Dollars

Sue and I are planning a trip to New Orleans by bike. We'll tow Mark and Annie, and I'll work from "home", much the way we did last year around Lake Michigan. Our plans are going smoothly except for our budget. We are trying not to increase our debt load in order to cover our costs (about $5000).

We have already taken the RV (driven by a nanny) out of the budget, and will be subsisting entirely on Ramen Noodles.

I've tried to think outside the box so we might include a bottle of bourbon in the budget.

1. Game shows

When I was a kid, there was a tv show where they'd call you and if you were watching the movie -- and answered the phone -- you'd win money. "Dialing for Dollars". They have not called me yet, but -- like Janis Joplin -- I'm hopeful.

Even though the phone is silent when it comes to "free money", I do have people calling me all the time offering me loans. I think loans affect my debt load, but I'm not a financial genius. And they might expect me to pay them back. So that won't work.

2. eHow

I read that someone is making $1000/month writing articles for eHow. When I looked further, I found some drawbacks. First, all the easy articles have been written ("how to change a bike tire"), so I'd have to write something harder ("how to make money on eHow"). Second, it takes a lot of work to write good articles.

3. Begging

"Dear Mr Heartless corporation, please give us money for a vacation that benefits no one". OK, that wasn't presented well.

"My wife and I would like help from ______ for our next tour. In return for your support, we will rave about your ______ (products) on our tour blog (we love them, so its easy to do), and participate in marketing promotions as needed, within reason and proportional to your support. A tour like this will highlight the quality, durability and safety of your product...."

Burley, Apple, Hilton, Wyndham Rewards and Ortlieb were among those solicited.

Burley immediately turned us down, which was surprising in that they have the most marketing to gain from this trip. It would be nice to believe they thought about it, but they didn't blink. If we can safely schlep our toddlers 1000 miles, you can take them to the park, can't you?

Apple turned us down for surprising reasons. We all know they don't need blog buzz from us, but they concentrate their donations on education. Even if we promised to stop at all the historical markers, it just wasn't enough. They still took long enough that I can believe they thought about it.

There's been no response from the other companies, so they must be thinking harder.

I'll stay by my phone, just in case.