Hosting Like the Rich When You're Broke

“But wait, aren’t I hosting to MAKE money, not spend more of it??”

But here’s the tricky thing: The first few 5-star reviews are so critical to future success that in the long run you are likely better borrowing a little bit to help ensure guests expectations are met or exceeded. Of course, there is a balance to this, and many items can be purchased to further “spruce up” your home after you’ve generated some cash. If you have the time, sourcing furniture from thrift shops of Craigslist can be a good option (and much cheaper) as well. Since I was short on time, I decided to bite the bullet and use 18-month 0% financing options given by furniture stores to purchase some items, and 12-18-month 0% interest credit cards for the rest. As someone who has never carried a positive credit card balance, this was a tough call, but it enabled me to get things spruced up right out of the gate.

One word of caution when using this financing approach: Sure – it is 0% interest for the first 12 or 18 months, but in some cases, after that initial period has expired, if you haven’t paid the entire balance, you’ll be charged interest on the ENTIRE DURATION. For example, if you get a 12-month 0% interest deal, and you don’t pay it off until month 13, you may end up paying for interest accrued during the entire 13 months (at some absurd 20%+ rate), instead of just for the one month past the promotional period. SO – if you take this route, be dead certain you can pay it all off well before the due date.

Here are current financing options similar to the ones I used:

THIS SECTION UNDER CONSTRUCTION