I am so mad right now. I knew the Fed rate cuts would eventually affect my savings accounts. Today it finally hit. My Emigrant Direct account was yieding 4.65 percent (APY) last week and is now down to 4.3 percent (APY. 4.05 percent interest) Argh.

It's like the Fed is punishing those of us who did everything right-- we save money for a rainy day and what do we get? The stock market and housing tanks because people were overzealous with debt and yet the responsible people end up suffering.

I know, it could have been worse. I really expected my savings account interest to drop closer to 3.5 percent, given the current Fed rate, so by comparison 4.3 still isn't bad. The whole thing just makes me mad...

As part of my plan to pad the tiki bar fund, I am thinking of selling some of my indie crafts and patterns on Etsy. I have heard mixed reviews. A friend of mine said Etsy isn't that great because most of the site's visitors are sellers rather than buyers. Do any of you have any experience with Etsy? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

A bottle of wine can make a big difference in your life.

This New Year's, about 1/2 way through a bottle of Fuki plum wine, I finally admitted to myself and the world my deepest desire. To be my own boss, and how? By opening my own Tiki bar. I've always been a tikiphile. Collecting mugs at thrift stores and online for years. I have hundreds. I also used to be a Bourbon Street bartender, so I've slung a few drinks in my day. Throw in that I've quit just about every day job I've ever had after two years because I can't stand having overbearing bosses, or slaving away all day to make someone else rich.

So Eureka. Tiki bar it is.

What does this have to do with your blog, you ask? I am going to chronicle my quest to turn any extra money I have into enough money to achieve my dream.

I'm naturally thrifty, which is why I love second-hand shopping so much. But the real question is can you achieve big goals through small, incremental actions? Well, we'll find out won't we?

Along the way, I hope to come up with some ideas you can apply to your own life. We all have dreams, big and small, and maybe we can reach some of them together.

Oh, don't tune out and think this is going to be another boring, preachy personal finance blog. I personally hate that stuff. I'm not going to suggest buying 50 lb bags of bulk oatmeal to save money. Pah-lease. No rinsing out of plastic bags, either.

Here is my plan. I can't afford to use my regular paycheck to save for this project, so I am going to use "extra money".

Just what that is, I'm not sure yet.

I do sometimes sell indie crafts and such, so that will be one source of extra money. Over Christmas I earned $250 selling my handmade items. It was just sitting in my Paypal account. This is the seed money to get this project started.

Change on the street? That too.

I'll probably dabble in some eBay auctions and selling books and videos on Amazon and Half.com. Anything I earn from Google Adsense will go to the cause as well. (So start clicking, folks!)

This "extra money" will go into a high-interest savings account, that way my little bit of money is out there working for me. Once the balance grows, I may move it to other investments. We'll figure it out as we go along.

This is going to be a long, hard challenge. But I hope a fun and interesting one. Won't you join me on my journey?