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!