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.