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.