Actually... (part 2)

Well, fancy that!

Continuing off of the first part, I'd like to go into more details on things I do on an almost daily basis in an attempt to be more productive, save a bit of cash, or make a little pocket change.

• If I've got a little time and I catch myself asking if I should waste it by staring blankly at a screen, I'll try to turn it around and throw a few posts up on PostLoop. It doesn't take much, and I stay engaged in conversations that interest me on different topics on a few different forums. And get paid to do so. Aww yeaaah! Well, not much. But that's beside the point.
• If I buy food out somewhere, I pretty much vow to not do so a second time that day (which is so incredibly easy to do). I'll eat at home or otherwise make a lunch/dinner to take with me to work or wherever. 
• On that note, I try to plot out what days I'll need to take homemade food with me to work. It's pretty much always a sandwich, so I make sure I've stocked up on my meats and cheeses bread of the week ahead of time so I don't make any excuses to go through a drive-thru instead (though I've still managed to do this, and with a sandwich sitting in the passenger's side seat--talk about rejection).
• On the flip side, I've also found that if I plan out what days I might go out to eat, I stick to it and allow no more. This way I'm a lot less likely to hit up McDonald's randomly and thus shorten my life expectancy. It's almost a reward in a way too. The mental dialogue goes something like "Well, I could eat at McDonald's today, or.. no, no.. I'll go to Favilla's Pizza tomorrow and that will be AWESOME. Thanks decisive, intelligent, hungry brain!" "You're welcome!"
• When I do cook a legit meal (not sandwiches), I try to find the "simpler" recipe. You could follow a lasagna recipe calling for 15+ ingredients, and yeah, it would taste absolutely awesome (unless you burn it or put it in a blender). Or, if you're perhaps a bit strapped for cash (or don't want a complex recipe) and still want awesome homemade lasagna, use a recipe that has half a dozen ingredients instead. It will likely also taste awesome. I do understand though, that sometimes you have to go all out for your lasagna and use strange imported herbs from Italy and cheese made from a goat belonging to a monk in the Swiss alps, and whole grain non-enriched noodles from Whole Foods. That would taste very awesome. 

I'm not sure if you could tell from these tips that I'm hungry, but I will now go make some food, using junk in my own cupboards and fridge, so that I don't feel like a lying hypocrite. Thanks for reading. Share with me what you do to be more productive or cut corners and fatten up that piggy bank too!

Actually... (part 1)

Hello readers.

I've listed many tips and ideas for side income and saving money, and though I have tried most of them or at least researched them enough to be knowledgeable, I felt like it would make a lot of sense to share things I actually do on a (more or less) day-to-day basis. This not only includes little bits of side income and saving money, but also general ways I try to be more productive. This will be a two-part post.

The day and age we live in has made most of us a bit dependent on technology. I'm at fault here, and I'm fairly confident I wouldn't remember what day it was, much less what I need to do on a given day if I didn't have my smart phone with all my productivity apps. A pen and paper work fine here, obviously, and I'm sure I'll fall back on primarily using those after World War 3 shuts down our smart phones and social networks.

• I use a little app called ColorNote for my calender and general schedule keeping. I have a planned post going into more detail about this and other apps later, but for now it will suffice to say that I refer to this app a dozen times throughout the day to consult my to-do lists, and I consider it a must have. 
• I keep note of my spending and earnings every day, and have for nearly two months now. I use an app called Note Everything because why not. The format I use is very basic - I list each of the purchases I've made that day, then break down the total amount I've spent, followed by my calculations of what I might have made at work that day, then subtract for my estimate of profit for the given day. In the big picture, this helps me to consider where my money is going, and it's definitely helped me improve my spending habits. I think twice before I go and waste money, because part of me just doesn't want to write it down and admit it. This way of thinking and the act of recording has become a habit and it's definitely helped. I highly suggest doing this in some form or another. 
• I try to read every single day at some point. I think it's important to always be learning and take in new information. A study I heard through news-read-to-you app Umano detailed how scientists and other super-humans believe they've discovered that learning something new every day tricks your brain's overall perception of time, giving you the feeling that it's "slowing down time." It's just like when we were all kids and the world was fresh and new and Summer would last for four years straight before Autumn came around. When you pay attention to the details and learn, your focus is spread out, and life is so much more interesting. When you go day-to-day, drifting mindlessly through your routines, it all goes by so fast because your brain knows what to expect, so before you know it, you're awake and doing it all over again. 
• Whenever I recall that I have Qmee linked with Google (which is usually every day that I do a search for something responsible like insurance, cell phone plans or plane tickets), I jump in and do my allotted amount of searches, rack in a few cents and add it into my little Qmee piggy bank. It's stupid, but it all adds up, and I've emptied over $10 from that piggy bank into my bank account, for literally doing nothing. 

I have at least a few more bullet points of tips and whatnot to share in the second post that I'll either write up tonight or two weeks from now when I remember that I've neglected this blog again. Joking, only joking. Maybe. Thanks for reading! Comment and share below! And be sure to follow me on twitter for no reason at all!

Tuesday Tips #3

Hey all, just wanted to fire off a few more tips since it's Tuesday and because I'm fan of alliteration.

17. Give real gifts, not pricey plastic crap - Okay, honestly, I have nothing against giving (and getting) electronics for a present or new clothes or something purchased in a store... even a boring old gift card. There's nothing inherently wrong with the gifts. I could, however, go off and preach about our consumerist society and how stupid its obsession of gifts is... but, I won't. I could! The real, frugal idea here is putting your heart and a bit of thought into a gift, perhaps by actually using your hands to make something for someone. It's cheesy and the idea seems to be a hit with little kids (for their parents, mind you), but there's some real gold here. I'm going to put a classy little link right here that sums this up and shares 30 ideas for you to try out. The article is a good read.

18. Unplug - This isn't a "shoot your TV" tip. That's silly. But, I do suggest unplugging anything that you don't use too often. Appliances and electronics drain just a teensy bit of energy, even while "off." That statement means nothing to you, I'm sure. But, when you consider how it all adds up? We used to leave our coffee maker plugged in all the time. We used it once a month it seemed like. Looking back, I think that was kind of a waste. TVs do have the most latent energy use while "off." They have to be ready to come in near instantly when you press the remote after all. Obviously if these plugs are difficult to get to, maybe it's not worth it. But I do make it a routine to keep things unplugged, save for our one digital clock in our bedroom and our refrigerator, etc.

19. Learn to drive and take care of your car - Change your oil every few thousand miles, keep your tires well-inflated, and make sure your air filter is cleaned fairly often. These few things supposedly help improve your gas mileage overall. Makes sense. Keep your trunk light, if you can. If there's heavy junk in there it does have a (slight) affect on your mileage. Avoid slamming on your breaks or breaking often for no good reason, as well as accelerating needlessly when a red light or stop sign is in sight. Also, make sure your front tires are properly aligned and have your tires rotated regularly. This slows down tire wear. All of these things add up to improve fuel economy as well as the overall longevity of your vehicle's life. And as we all know, right after a house, your car is probably your most expensive thing. Car repairs are never fun, and in my experience, they always hurt my wallet.


I realized after coming back and re-reading this post, prior to submitting it, that these three tips are probably my most opinionated. I know everyone has a different outlook on life and a different way of doing things. The problem with our society and our world is that we don't respect that about each other. We all think our political stances, religious views, diets, brands and favorite shows are better than everyone else's. I don't mean to be hypocritical or unbearably opinionated with the above, so avoid reading in too deep. No stepping on toes is intended. I guess that's what advice really is though. Thanks for reading. Comments and shares appreciated.

A miscellaneous update

Look! A post has appeared! What will you do?

Read it.

Don't read. Sorry, not an option.

I've been lazy and I apologize. I finally have a screen cap of some recent earnings from Qmee and Post Loop that I deposited into my PayPal account (which I finally regained control of by proving I'm me).

No, neither of those deposits are worth too much. But the effort and time put in were meager. This is mostly for the people that have asked me if you actually get anything out of these sites. Post Loop (Shown as Royal Media, LLC?) requires you meet a $5.00 threshold, but Qmee allows you to withdraw whenever you want, even if it's pennies. Here's some proof for some of my Qmee earnings...

I'm a big fan of Qmee for this reason. I've made $7.96 doing nothing. I don't care if your mentality is "Oh, that's petty change, why even bother?" It all adds up in the end. And you can also see my inconsistency. I searched with Qmee here and there. No effort, really.

I really do recommend these two sites. If you haven't bothered checking them out before, use my links: Post Loop and Qmee.

Also, more than ever I recommend selling your stuff on Amazon. I've successfully earned $81 for selling three of my old Nintendo 64 games. I don't know why anyone wanted to pay money for them, but I'm pleased with how Amazon works. The money went directly into my bank account, hassle free. I'm sure most of you have sold at least a couple things on eBay or something before, and we've all done Craigslist, but it was more or less new terrain for me. I have a few more games up right now that I'm hoping to sell in the next couple of weeks before we go off on our big adventure.

And on that note, I've started my second blog... but have not yet posted on it! So, I won't be linking to it until there's something on there, but I'm really psyched to start talking about our upcoming travels.

I'll update again soon. Thanks all! Every penny counts.

Update - I'm uh, aware that the two images I linked clip over into the sidebar on the left. Yes. That looks tacky. It makes it look like I certainly don't know what I'm doing here. Ahem. Well. I'll be leaving that for now... Thank you, that is all.

Qmee!

I don't remember when I started using Qmee, but I know it was an invite-only beta type of thing at the time. Again, something interesting and different to me. It's sleek presentation and appearance of legitimate-ness lured me in. I created an account and downloaded the plugin for Chrome, and I've enjoyed it and reaped its benefits since.

How does it work? It kind of passively double-checks the things you search for on google or yahoo and tries to offer you more pertinent results off to the side. I'm actually impressed that it does a good job of narrowing down results, or pointing you in a good direction. Typing in something vague like "car insurance" usually pulls up a handful of results like Geico or Progressive off to the side. And here's where the earning comes in. Next to each of Qmee's results is a cent amount that you'll gain just by clicking the link. It adds up. I'll have to post an image of my PayPal earnings through Qmee some time soon.

Again, it's not something you'll send your kids to college with, but after a few weeks of positive search results you could probably buy yourself a modest lunch somewhere. Considering it takes absolutely no effort or time to click a link, it's a pretty easy deal.

Speaking of which... If you would use my referral link to Qmee, that would be awesome! Then you can spread it on, and we can all collect pennies with the hopes of dollars. Every bit counts.

Edit 9/20/2013 - I came back to view this post today and hit update after making one grammatical fix. Apparently that jumps the post to the current date. I posted this back in August, so... sorry for any confusion. 

Oh yeesh.

Sorry regular readers of NQYDJ (Wow, horrible acronym--didn't think that one through). It's been 8 days since I posted anything, and this post isn't really worth anything beyond reassurance. I'm not done with the blog. I'm just scatterbrained and I've been hooked on The Walking Dead, to be honest with you.

I would like to say I'm going to be starting a second blog (Why not get in over my head?) some time this week. This second one will be a travel blog for me and my wife to update regularly while we are in New Zealand starting October 25th. Sadly, I will probably update this blog even less (than I do now). We're going to be WWOOFing there for about a year, and I want to chronicle our adventures and what we see and learn.

I hope to get a nice, productive post out for this blog either tonight or tomorrow! In the meantime, thanks for checking back and keep saving money!

Tuesday tips #2

Hey all! I wish I was updating more than this, but I'm working on a few different things right now and feel a bit spread out. I wanted to share some thoughts and tips today. As before, comment or let me know some of the things you do, or even some tips I've shared that you may have liked and/or tried.

13. General green tips - Here's a few things you can try to be a bit more green, efficient and in the end save a bit of money.

• Use up what you have. Squeeze out that last bit of toothpaste, fill up that notebook, eat something up before it expires or goes bad (even if it's not exactly what you're craving). 
• Use more natural light, less lamps/artificial lights. Saves on energy bill. Additionally, lower your heat by a degree or two in Winter, and raise your AC likewise in Summer. 
• Take shorter showers and use a little bit less shampoo/conditioner.
• Switch to CFL light bulbs. They're awesome. Their service life is between 6,000-15,000 hours of use. Those standard light bulbs? 750-1,000 hours. Additionally, they use roughly 1/4th the amount of energy. I think that's worth the dollar or two more you put into them initially. 

14. Freelance - I have not tried freelancing, personally. In the future when I feel more confident about my (very meager) skills in programming, web design, photography and that sort of stuff, I intend to venture down this road. This is similar to my aforementioned "teach" tip. If you have a skill, make money off of it. Do it yourself on the side where it's more enjoyable. My dad did landscaping and lawn work on the side for years when I was a kid. He freelanced. I have friends that do photography and by word of mouth they've managed a few gigs here and there and they've been paid for it. Have confidence in yourself. As far as on-line work, I've heard of a few sites where you can do more internet-related freelancing. Check out oDesk, Elance, or Guru. You could even look into Craigslist. People are always advertising their side skills on there, whether it be lawn work or tutoring or cleaning people's houses.

15. Rethink an "optional" purchase - I've battled in this mindset dozens of times since I struck out on my own and got married. "Do I really need this new, bigger, higher definition TV?" No. I've talked myself out of a lot of things that at the time I could have afforded. The timing for some of my car-related emergency problems is uncanny, but they usually happen right after I've given up on a big, planned purchase. Truth of the matter is, I'm rarely happier in the long run after I go and buy a new game or a new electronic whatever. It entertains me for a week or so and then I realize how good I am at wasting money. I recommend waiting. Consider what you want to buy, then wait a week. If you feel like you still really just need it, then at least you tested your patience. If you feel like your life is fine without it (I mean, you went a week without it, what difference would it make?), then give up on it. I forgot where I heard this, but I think this is a brilliant mindset to have.

16. Open an Etsy shop - I know there's a few hoops to jump through with getting a shop up and running on Etsy, but it's worth it if you're a crafty person and want to sell your things to a potentially huge audience. The number one challenge with Etsy is being noticed. There are tons of sellers, and a lot of them are going to be selling what you will/are. Advertising your wares will be the ace up your sleeve. And you have to keep trying. If you're crafty and you sell your stuff in person or in a local shop or studio, keep doing it, that's awesome. But consider Etsy as well, if you haven't already. The end result of success could be completely worth biting the bullet and dealing with a lack of notice/business for a week or two.


And I leave you with this: just have the guts to do stuff like freelance or open an on-line shop. It's so ridiculously common where people just don't, simply because of a fear of rejection or failure. I put off starting a blog forever simply because I wondered if anyone would ever see it or read it or care. For someone whose always carried a fear of rejection in their heart, that's a big step. I've decided now that this was an awesome decision and I'm glad I just jumped into it, even if it took four months of postponing.

Tips and lifehacks

In all of my scouring around the internet, I've compiled a few more tips and lifehacks to save you money. I've tried to list a few that are a little less obvious this time.

10. Abandon your on-line shopping cart - A pretty nifty idea that I was unaware of, but makes sense. If you have an item or two in your shopping cart in an on-line store, and go away for a few days (intending to decide on your purchase later, right?), there's a chance the seller could offer you a discount of sorts. I've heard of this mostly for Best Buy, and different clothing/shoe sites like Levis and Zappos. It's an incentive to get you to go ahead and make up your mind. I intend to try this at some point soon.

11. Canceling services, but... - I mentioned in a previous set of tips the idea of taking a break from services like Netflix or Hulu for a month or so at a time as a means to save money. I forgot to mention that companies like these will often offer you a discount if you threaten to cancel your plan. I had this happen with Gamefly a couple times now. For me, I got an email a month later inviting me back for a dollar. I could have my old rental plan for a month, if I just came back, and all I had to pay was a dollar for it. Awesome. How can you say no? This applies to a rather large list of companies and services. I'm sure a longstanding subscriber status helps. Go ahead, make threats.

12. Recycle - Take your stuff like metal and aluminum to scrap yards for a dime or two (no, really a bit more than that). Recycling old printer ink cartridges is apparently worth money too. I don't see how an office or small business wouldn't already be doing that, but you could potentially strike a deal to handle the recycling of such items. Pinterest has probably raised the value of items like wine corks, mason jars and other dealiomabobbers, so reselling things like that on eBay could net you, uh, some change. Another idea that falls under this umbrella is salvaging anything remotely important from stuff you would recycle or throw away as well. Soda bottle caps, like Coca-Cola for example, have a reward codes on them. I'm in the habit of hanging on to mine and entering them in at www.mycokerewards.com. It's a long shot, but you get 3 points per cap and can enter sweepstakes for $500 Visa gift cards among other things. Just use your noggin before you toss stuff out.

Plink!

Hey all! Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been caught up doing a number of things as well as making some successful sales on Amazon (just old N64 games). I'm amassing a lot of aluminum and metal for a trip to the scrapyard here in the next week (I'll make a post about that and what I earn). And I'm starting to do some research on different cash back credit cards. I've still never had a credit card of any sorts (bank card all the way, oh yeah!), so it's new territory that I'm iffy to cross into.

On the note of cards and purchases though, I wanted to recommend Plink. I like Plink very much. I was wary to try it (you have to give them your debit/credit card info), but I had heard so many good things about it and loved the idea, so I decided to jump on in and give it a go.

Plink is a rewards service. You have a "wallet" for a few different stores or restaurants that you frequent (and that they work with, mind you), and when you make purchases at these places, Plink rewards you with some points. Obviously the more you spend (up to a certain, varying amount) the more points you get back. When you meet the required threshold, you may turn in these points for gift cards to a number of popular (heh) places like Wal-Mart, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iTunes and so on. 100 points represents a dollar towards these, and the thresholds are your common $5, $10, $25, etc. amounts. Plink loves to do specials too, where spending at certain shops in a given week nets you double points, for example.

I've already earned a Wal-Mart gift card, and I'm on my way to my next, so I can guarantee that it's legit (I mean, for what my guarantee is worth to you anyway). It's not too bad, honestly, and you might as well get something back if you go to Dunkin Donuts, Kmart or whatever else they have available.

I hope you've found this little review handy and enlightening. Share your thoughts, +1's, likes, etc. I appreciate your time. And if you decide to give Plink a go, be sure to use my Plink referral link so that everyone's a winner today! Hurrah! Thank you and that is all.

A lack of structure

Hello readers! I've been lazy busy these past few days and haven't made the time to get back to my blog. I wanted to do a quick little notice on Opinion Outpost which I recommended the other day. I'm unable to get into my account now, for whatever reason to verify this, but I was told that they've enforced some new policies that have to do with them sharing your information. I'm not super keen on this myself, though it's becoming a more common and unavoidable issue in our modern day society. If I'm ever able to jump back into my account, I'll check into this more firsthand, but I wanted to provide a heads up for now.

I have a post-in-the-making about dumpster diving coming up soon. I just want to get some pictures after a good dive to share first. Most people outside of my general group of friends seem to make ick faces when I mention dumpster diving. I understand. I avoided it myself for years while my friends chowed on tossed cakes and fruits and other things and never gave a sign of dying from germ overload. I've come to the conclusion that it is safe. Sort of. Common sense is required, really. I'll share all my thoughts on this later. Reserve your judgments until then.

I also wanted to steer you readers in the direction of The Penny Hoarder. This was one of the first money-related "blogs" I became a big fan of and frequented. They offer tips on where to invest your money, prize-draws and sweepstakes, oddball means of earning money (like cricket farms!) and ideas on selling things you probably had not thought of selling before! I learned about mystery shopping through them, and though I'm on "payroll" with one company, I haven't actually conducted any shops yet. It's a good sight. MacFuzzy stamp of approval!

Lastly, I leave you with a tip.

9. Cheap hobbies - this one has been a battle for me throughout my life. I grew up with video games. And basically that's all you need to know. Video games are an expensive hobby. Same goes for collecting just about anything, unless its lost pennies or belly button lint. I'm not saying forsake video games (I would be a chief hypocrite here), but learn to tone it down--rent, or borrow games when you can, for example. Or just say no to buying when something is first released. That's actually just good practice for almost anything. If you can bring free or cheaper hobbies to the forefront in your life, then more expensive hobbies are fine to entertain on occasion. And considering hobbies are a very optional experience, putting oodles of money into them (especially when it's not in your budget) is kind of crazy.

Tuesday tips

Thought I'd throw out some more tips to follow up from Sunday night's post. Comments and ideas appreciated!

6. Teach - I don't actually mean go and get a degree in college and do this, but rather pass on what you know about... whatever! People want to learn, and if you have a talent or skill that's worthwhile (I think they all are, right?), then someone somewhere will pay you to teach them. Are you good at guitar, piano, violin or whatever? Make an ad, spread it around town, tell your friends. Take up students. This is really great if you're good with kids, too, as parents always want their kids to learn to play something (usually doesn't apply to drums...no offense, really). You could do this with art, math tutoring, or anything really. Juggling? Just a thought.

7. Eat what you have before going to the grocery store - this one is our ultimate recurring challenge. Obviously you're going to need to buy more milk, or maybe some meat to go with your hefty pasta supply, or at least something. But the idea here is to just really force yourself to dig into your pantry and eat that rice or jar of peanut butter you've been saving from last Summer's camping trip. This is not appealing. But it does save you money. And it helps you put things in perspective. I can't count how many times I've stared into our pantry full of "side dish stuffs" and said, "We're out of food... I must go buy fried chicken to survive." A lot of people around the world would be overjoyed with our ignored pantries.

8. Try to fix it before you throw it out - it's ingrained into us to just toss stuff out on the curb if it stops working suddenly. I feel like this applies to electronics and clothes more than anything, but I'm sure its applicable all over. Holes in your clothes can be sewn and patched. Scratches on discs can sometimes be buffed out. Sometimes electronics that stop working only require a tube or a new cord soldered on. An example would be my dad and his lawn mower. It's stopped working three times. Each time he figured out what part went bad, spent less than $10 and got it running again, usually for another year. His neighbor threw a lawn mower out. Dad asked for it, figured out it was a spark plug (I think), and viola! He had a new lawn mower. The neighbor had gone through two more by the time my dad gave up on that one.

I guess to get to it--just try not to be wasteful with what you have. It's better for you, the environment, and your wallet.

Do you have any great tips or examples of things you've done to save money like this? Drop a comment below.

Slicethepie!

Slicethepie is not about food, or pie, but rather about music. It's a music review website where you, the listener, ultimately get paid for your opinion. I actually rather enjoy this one, as it's quite different from my usual foray. It helps (and pays!) to know some music-related lingo when you write your reviews. You're only required to listen to the random track they throw at you for 90 seconds, then you can submit what you've written (assuming you've typed up your thoughts as the song plays--the best method, by far). Depending on the details you've provided and the amount you've typed up, you'll earn different amounts. I believe your rank, which goes up with more and more quality reviews, also determines your base earning rate.

Reviewers should note what they thought of the intro, the instrumentation, the overall song structure, how the vocals sounded or if they could understand the lyrics and so on. It's really not too demanding or difficult to type up a decent review in 90 seconds and hit submit. When I was on a fierce kick of doing these reviews I was, at my rank, earning .20ish a review. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but for listening to music and throwing it your opinion, it isn't too rough, especially if you do it off and on like I do.

It is unfortunate you can't select your favorite genres, and your musical tastes don't factor in at all for that matter. I get to hear lots of music that I honestly just can't find myself appreciating. That's when I tend to be a bit more harsh with my reviews. It's enjoyable still, in its own way.

I recommend checking Slicethepie out. It's different, it's actually kind of fun which is sort of rare for these review type sites, and it's worth a shot. You can transfer your earnings directly into PayPal once you meet the threshold of $5.00, which I achieved within a week of very off-and-on reviewing.

If you check it out, I would very much appreciate you using my referral link. Thanks guys. Have fun.

Lazy Sunday, just some tips...

I thought I would compile a few tips and ideas for saving and making money, as opposed to a review of a site or service like I have been doing so far.

1. Eat at home - probably the most common tip anywhere you look. It is true enough though. Eating at restaurants and fast food places adds up fast, especially when you're paying for more than just yourself. I feel like me and my wife spend between $20 and $30 total if we're not splitting something. For that much I could easily buy a week's worth of simple meals like stuff for sandwiches. Is that as fun? No. It's not. That's why we all go to restaurants anyway...

2. Grow your own veggies - yes, this can be time consuming but it is really a lot of fun (unless you just don't have a green thumb). You could argue "Oh, but I live in an apartment/have no yard/etc." Those are valid arguments, but I would suggest looking into container gardening, or even those upside-down tomato planters that you can hang from your porch. I love tomatoes, lettuce and peppers, and rather than pay for these in the store all the time, I can just go out to my garden and grab 'em for whatever meal I'm prepping. Additionally, it's nice knowing where your produce comes from, and there's a type of satisfaction that comes with being able to provide for yourself in this way.

3. Cut back on a few things - if you do eat out regularly, say a few times a week or so, then even knocking one of those days out a week will add up in the long run! I know I've often been too short-sighted to see things this way, and regret that way of thinking. This applies to other things too, like services we may subscribe to. Take Hulu Plus or Netflix for example. You could totally get caught up on everything you watch, then skip a month and come back and just make a party out of catching up on your favorite shows or whatever. And cutting back on cell phone plans or just how many channels you're getting for your satellite or cable TV. Take a month or two with these things scaled back and you'll see it all add up.

4. Have your coffee at home - this one isn't too much of a problem for me. If I even want coffee, I want a lot, and it's way more cost effective to brew a huge pot and hype myself up on the whole thing than to buy a tiny cup from wherever cafe. I know the problem here is we all want coffee early in the morning, and when commuting to work it's way easier to go get a Grande Tasty Frappe Mocha Flamingo Latte than wait around for boring old Mr. Coffee to brew. That said, if you're a habitual coffee drinker (at least once a day), then you could probably save twenty-something bucks a week (which brings you close to $100 a month) if you cut out Starbucks altogether and just prepared it at home. I might be a little biased here and easier to please though...

5. Sell unwanted stuff - organizing a yard sale is usually pretty easy, and if you've never tried it, it's a pretty worthwhile experience at least once, though not worth it if you can only find a handful of things to sell. Selling on eBay or Amazon are possibly the best routes, or even pawn shops (though I'm admittedly sketched out by most of them--I swear they're trying to swindle me!). We all have a few pieces of junk sitting in a closet or in our attic just collecting dust. Don't hoard useless things that serve no purpose to you when you can turn them around for good money! One thing that makes this easier that me and my wife have tried is to take pictures of your items you plan to part with. You can remember them this way if they're important to you, and it strangely allows you to let go.

Well, hope you've enjoyed this tips. I'll compile some more for next time. If you have any tips, please comment below! Thanks.

Opinion Outpost and E-Rewards!

Opinion Outpost and E-Rewards are the sites that I started on, years and years ago.  They're both survey sites with a good bit in common.  I've done them both off and on and have actually earned from both. E-Rewards only deals in gift cards for a few places or points for most major airline companies in America.  It might be a bit more worth it to you if you do some flying then.  Opinion Outpost on the other hand will reward you in straight up cash via PayPal.  Now, years back, I redeemed many many surveys worth of points for a $25 Game Stop gift card through E-Rewards, which I was grateful for very much, but with less time (and a lot more persistence), I've earned over $20 real dollars through Opinion Outpost.  I suppose it depends on your preference then.

E-Rewards seems to only offer a few surveys at a time, but you're nearly guaranteed to be eligible to do them.  This is the greatest difference between the two sites.  Opinion Outpost offers limitless survey options, but they're a lot more strict with eligibility.  You will be denied.  And denied.  And denied again.  Persistence is key here.  The pay off is good if you stick with it and don't mind clicking box after box.

If you're knowledgeable on a wide variety of subjects--rather, consumer products and services--then you're set.  Surveys seem to cover the topics of what kind of insurance you have, medical conditions, different tech and gadgets like smart phones, fast food, beverages and so on.  If you feel limited here, then chances are you'll rarely find a survey you can finish (and thus won't get points).

There's a lot of potential here with these two sites if you don't tire of the idea and are persistent enough.  I think they're worth a try, especially if you've never had the joy of doing an on-line survey.


Edit: Forgot to provide some links!
E-Rewards
Opinion Outpost

Postloop!

So I heard about Postloop back in June or so when I was growing a little bored of my usual surveys. The premise is this: Forum owners pay a bit of money to these folks in order to attract potential posters to said forums. You, the poster, jump through a few hoops (very minor stuff like making sure you have an avatar for their forum, etc), and begin posting on their forum and are reimbursed in points that points some form of cash that you can withdraw into PayPal (a $5 threshold must be met, I believe).

You're essentially "baiting" the forum, encouraging and creating topics and conversations for others. I'm assuming from the forum owner's perspective that they wait till traffic is pretty substantial and cut off the cash flow eventually when they feel like the forum can stand on its own two legs.

All of this is a breath of fresh air for someone like me who is burnt out on taking monotonous consumer surveys. There is huge variety of forums catering to different niche topics (some very specific, which may be why they lack in traffic), so you shouldn't have any trouble in latching onto a forum or two to become a regular at. The idea of posting on forums (about stuff you're actually interested in), and getting paid for it is awesome to me. It definitely adds up over time, and it's one of those things where you could net a decent bit of money if you're very persistent with it.

If you love stating your thoughts and opinions on different matters and already do that on-line (c'mon, this singles out.. uh, everyone), then you might as well earn a few bucks for it. Make new friends. Whatever. It's cool. Try it out.

And if you took the time to read my article and wanna give it a shot, I would totally appreciate you using my nifty spifty referral link for Postloop! That's a fancy way of saying I get a small, tiny something out of recommending it to you, which I would be most grateful for. Remember this, every little bit counts. It all adds up.

Thanks! And if you have any suggestions, input or comments of any sort, go right ahead and fire away!

The road goes ever on and on...

   
     Hi all! My name is Seth, and I've created this blog to document and share my tips, tricks and attempts at earning alternative income, no matter how small. I'm employed full time right now working with different folks with special needs and have been doing this for almost two years now. My wife and I are leaving for a year this October to work in New Zealand, which we're thrilled beyond reason for. It's August, and it's crunch time for our budget. I've been doing little side things all Summer to try and earn a few dollars here and there, and now I'm doubling my efforts. I'm happy to answer questions as well as to receive advice! I look forward to sharing with you all soon!