This post isn't so much about earning more money as it is about making the money you already get go further. As far as your bank account is concerned, spending a hundred dollars less a month is the same as making a hundred dollars more, and for many people saving extra money every month is actually rather simple. The very first thing you need to do is map out your current expenses. Just how much do you spend in a given month, and what do you spend it on? This does not have to be a difficult challenge, either. Many programs and websites exist for this very purpose, and my personal favorite is http://www.mint.com With mint you simply add all of your bank, loan, and credit card accounts and it will automatically keep track of your transactions. You can then set budgets indicating how much you want to spend in a given month on a particular type of transaction such as groceries, fast food, movies, or clothing.
An important thing to note is that not every family is the same, and some things that are easy for me to spend less on may be impossible for you. Here are a few of the specific things that it may be possible to save some extra money on every month:
Auto/Home Insurance
Check around for quotes on auto and home insurance and see just how much you may be able to save. In my case, I used to pay $116.50 every month to insure one car and my apartment. When we added a second car, I started looking at other quotes. By switching companies we now pay $120.98 every month. Adding that second car to my original policy would have cost just over $150 a month, a savings of $30 every month and it required very little work on my part. Use caution, however. Make sure that you compare exact levels of coverage. We found one company that could insure both cars and the apartment for $70 a month, but the coverage was less and reviews online were not positive. Find a company that will save you money, but find a company that you trust.
Gas/Tolls
Commutes are often not negotiable, but there are a few tricks to save you some money. There are of course minor tweaks such as driving 55, using cruise control, keeping your tire pressure at the recommended levels, etc. that can increase your mileage, but there are also times when it may be prudent to consider trading in your current vehicle. I had an SUV that got 17 MPG and commuted 280 miles every week. Every week this car would go through 17 gallons of gas, at current prices this would cost about $70 every week. By trading in my SUV for a new sedan I spent about $17,000, but with my current mileage I only spend about $25 a week, a difference of $2500 a year. It will take close to 7 years before I will actually make back the cost of the car in gas money, but after that I will have a car that is worth more than my old SUV, and costing me less in gas.
You can also get creative when it comes to picking your route. This is not possible for everybody, but by taking a few back roads I can skip the first toll booth on my commute. If I were paying cash, it would cost $0.80 every time I went through the toll, but since I have an I-Pass it only costs $0.40. Working five days a week, commuting to and from work, skipping this toll saves between $4 and $8 every week, and it only costs me an extra two minutes on my commute. If you drive through tolls often, investing in an I-Pass, EZ-Pass, or other electronic tolling device is often a great benefit. In Illinois you pay half of the toll price if you use an I-Pass or EZ-Pass.
If at all possible, walking, biking, or taking public transportation can also be an excellent way to save a little money.
Restaurants/Groceries
Everybody has to eat, and everybody enjoys going out so I am not going to even bother suggesting that you always eat ten cent ramen or toast at home to save a few bucks. There are, however, a few things you can change to still enjoy a night out while saving for a budget. One thing I would suggest is setting a specific amount you are willing to spend every month on restaurants. That will help you determine if you want to go to two really nice fine dining establishments, or five chain restaurants. Before you order, think, will you really eat an appetizer and the full entree? Most times the bread and a salad or side dish is enough until the entree comes, and skipping an appetizer can save you $10-15 every time you go out.
If you get a soda instead of a beer or a mixed drink, you can save an extra $5-10 per person, and getting a glass of ice water instead of soda saves an additional $2 each. You can always have a drink at home for much cheaper. My favorite scotch typically costs $8 for a shot at a restaurant, or I can buy a whole bottle for $35. By doing this, I am saving hundreds of dollars without missing out on the food or restaurants that I love.
Comparison Shop
As a general rule of thumb, always comparison shop. With the ease of shopping online you can quickly find out what stores are currently having sales or who has the best price for an item you want to buy. An added benefit of comparison shopping is it forces you to take your time with the decision. Impulse purchases are a danger to every budget, but by taking time out to compare prices, you have the chance to calm down and decide if the item is even worth purchasing.
By keeping an eye on your budget and making a few small changes you can effectively increase your available income several hundred dollars every month. This money can then go into stocks and bonds, a retirement account, a savings account, or a certificate of deposit and then earn interest, effectively giving you even more free money every month.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Supplementing Your Income
Recent years have not been kind to the economy, and nearly everybody could benefit from having a little extra money in their pocket every month. Unfortunately, opportunities to work from home are a minefield of scams that can be treacherous to navigate. Where should you even start?
As a basic introduction, I am going to briefly outline some of the methods of making supplemental income from home, and then in later posts I will explore the various methods in more detail. One of the key things to remember is that no legitimate method exists that can get you rich. You are much more likely to make a couple hundred dollars a month at most than an actual livable wage. Sites that promise tens of thousands of dollars in monthly income are almost always scams.
So, what are some of the options?
Mystery Shopping
This is my personal favorite method of making some extra money, and is something that many people have heard of but do not know anything about. Mystery shoppers are paid to go to specific stores and perform scenarios, and then report on what happened. There are hundreds of mystery shop companies out there, and not all are legitimate, so be careful. Do not join any sites that require you to pay, and make sure that any mystery shop company you work for is certified by the MSPA.
An example mystery shop might be the following scenario: On February 24th, 2013 go to the Best Buy on Main St. and interact with two different associates, one in the PC department and one in the TV department. For the PC department, you should indicate that you need a new laptop for college, and for the TV department indicate that you need a larger TV for your family room.
Mystery shops will often require you to make a small purchase to prove you were at the store, but the cost is often reimbursed. In the past 4 months I have completed 65 mystery shops with 25 different mystery shopping companies and have made just over $1,000, spending $278 on required purchases. If you have the time to complete more shops, the earnings could be even higher.
I would suggest signing up with several different mystery shop companies to find out who has the types of shops you would enjoy in your area. There are shops for department stores, grocery stores, movie theaters, fast food, restaurants, car dealerships, and more.
Dividends/Stocks:
Investing in the stock market is often viewed as a risk, and I am not disagreeing with that assessment. However, with just a little research and some initial funding, you can make decent supplemental income. If you are interested in investing, the first step is to pick a broker. TD Ameritrade, USAA, and E*Trade are just a few examples. Compare their fees and options carefully before making a decision.
For the purposes of making additional monthly income, I suggest investing exclusively long in dividend paying stocks. What this means is, buy a stock with the intention of not selling it. Many stocks will pay you up to four times a year if you hold shares in their company. These payments are known as dividends.
As one example, imagine a stock that pays quarterly dividends of ten cents a share and is currently trading at ten dollars a share. If you spend $500 and buy 50 shares, then every three months (once a quarter) you will be paid $5. That does not seem like much, but after a year your stock may be worth $20 a share. That would be $500 profit from the stocks, and $20 from dividends. Find a stock that pays more than 1% of its share price in dividends, and you can make much more. The best thing about this method is once you buy the shares, it requires no thought or effort on your part.
Of course, stocks can also lose value, so this is not a guaranteed method of earning extra income. Always be careful when investing. (Disclosure, author is currently long CTL, WIN, T, MSFT, MO, NLY, PFE)
Ads
You may have heard about websites or blogs making thousands of dollars in advertisements. This is another option for making some extra money, but is far from a sure thing. Ad clicks typically pay by CPM (clicks per thousand) which means you will only be paid if your site generates a thousand clicks on ads. If you have a site or blog, advertisements can be successful, but unless you are constantly marketing your site or have millions of users, you will be better served seeking other opportunities.
Pay-to-Click
Pay to click sites, also called PTC, are sites that pay you to click on ads. Often you have to stay on the page for thirty seconds to get credit and will often only get paid a penny per ad you view.
Be very cautious with these sites. Often they will encourage you to purchase referrals to increase your earnings, and then either refuse to pay or even go out of business entirely. Always do research before registering at any PTC site, and never spend money buying referrals or gold status, or any other feature.
These sites require a time investment, can take weeks to earn even a dollar, and are plagued with scam sites. After my previous experiences I am avoiding all PTC sites, but there are a few legitimate entities out there.
Mechanical Turk
This is a very respectable site, run by Amazon.com. At Mechanical Turk you are asked to perform "Hits", small basic tasks that cannot be automated. This could be things such as transcribing text from an image, finding what page a particular website is on Google's search result, or finding the name of a song given lyrics. These jobs often pay just a few pennies, so the earnings come slow, but you do not have to worry about scams or being asked for money.
Paid Surveys
This is something that I am new to, having just started with Inbox Dollars (linked above) The premise is that you perform tasks such as watching videos, taking surveys, or reading emails and then get paid for your time. The pay is often low, with surveys being worth around fifty cents each, but it requires little effort on your part. As with PTC, be very careful and I would advise against paying money for any features.
Freelance/Writing
If you enjoy writing you can find sites that will pay you to write blog posts or other content. I occasionally write for textbroker.com which typically pays a cent per word, so a 250 word blog post would pay $2.50. The better your writing, the more money you can make and the more projects you can accept. There are many other freelance sites out there that pay you to write, create computer programs, draw commissioned art work, etc.
E-Commerce
Sites like craigslist, E-Bay, Amazon, and Etsy allow you to sell items you either already own or can make yourself. This method requires the most work as you need to have items to sell and you have to do at least some marketing to get the word out.
As a basic introduction, I am going to briefly outline some of the methods of making supplemental income from home, and then in later posts I will explore the various methods in more detail. One of the key things to remember is that no legitimate method exists that can get you rich. You are much more likely to make a couple hundred dollars a month at most than an actual livable wage. Sites that promise tens of thousands of dollars in monthly income are almost always scams.
So, what are some of the options?
Mystery Shopping
This is my personal favorite method of making some extra money, and is something that many people have heard of but do not know anything about. Mystery shoppers are paid to go to specific stores and perform scenarios, and then report on what happened. There are hundreds of mystery shop companies out there, and not all are legitimate, so be careful. Do not join any sites that require you to pay, and make sure that any mystery shop company you work for is certified by the MSPA.
An example mystery shop might be the following scenario: On February 24th, 2013 go to the Best Buy on Main St. and interact with two different associates, one in the PC department and one in the TV department. For the PC department, you should indicate that you need a new laptop for college, and for the TV department indicate that you need a larger TV for your family room.
Mystery shops will often require you to make a small purchase to prove you were at the store, but the cost is often reimbursed. In the past 4 months I have completed 65 mystery shops with 25 different mystery shopping companies and have made just over $1,000, spending $278 on required purchases. If you have the time to complete more shops, the earnings could be even higher.
I would suggest signing up with several different mystery shop companies to find out who has the types of shops you would enjoy in your area. There are shops for department stores, grocery stores, movie theaters, fast food, restaurants, car dealerships, and more.
Dividends/Stocks:
Investing in the stock market is often viewed as a risk, and I am not disagreeing with that assessment. However, with just a little research and some initial funding, you can make decent supplemental income. If you are interested in investing, the first step is to pick a broker. TD Ameritrade, USAA, and E*Trade are just a few examples. Compare their fees and options carefully before making a decision.
For the purposes of making additional monthly income, I suggest investing exclusively long in dividend paying stocks. What this means is, buy a stock with the intention of not selling it. Many stocks will pay you up to four times a year if you hold shares in their company. These payments are known as dividends.
As one example, imagine a stock that pays quarterly dividends of ten cents a share and is currently trading at ten dollars a share. If you spend $500 and buy 50 shares, then every three months (once a quarter) you will be paid $5. That does not seem like much, but after a year your stock may be worth $20 a share. That would be $500 profit from the stocks, and $20 from dividends. Find a stock that pays more than 1% of its share price in dividends, and you can make much more. The best thing about this method is once you buy the shares, it requires no thought or effort on your part.
Of course, stocks can also lose value, so this is not a guaranteed method of earning extra income. Always be careful when investing. (Disclosure, author is currently long CTL, WIN, T, MSFT, MO, NLY, PFE)
Ads
You may have heard about websites or blogs making thousands of dollars in advertisements. This is another option for making some extra money, but is far from a sure thing. Ad clicks typically pay by CPM (clicks per thousand) which means you will only be paid if your site generates a thousand clicks on ads. If you have a site or blog, advertisements can be successful, but unless you are constantly marketing your site or have millions of users, you will be better served seeking other opportunities.
Pay-to-Click
Pay to click sites, also called PTC, are sites that pay you to click on ads. Often you have to stay on the page for thirty seconds to get credit and will often only get paid a penny per ad you view.
Be very cautious with these sites. Often they will encourage you to purchase referrals to increase your earnings, and then either refuse to pay or even go out of business entirely. Always do research before registering at any PTC site, and never spend money buying referrals or gold status, or any other feature.
These sites require a time investment, can take weeks to earn even a dollar, and are plagued with scam sites. After my previous experiences I am avoiding all PTC sites, but there are a few legitimate entities out there.
Mechanical Turk
This is a very respectable site, run by Amazon.com. At Mechanical Turk you are asked to perform "Hits", small basic tasks that cannot be automated. This could be things such as transcribing text from an image, finding what page a particular website is on Google's search result, or finding the name of a song given lyrics. These jobs often pay just a few pennies, so the earnings come slow, but you do not have to worry about scams or being asked for money.
Paid Surveys
This is something that I am new to, having just started with Inbox Dollars (linked above) The premise is that you perform tasks such as watching videos, taking surveys, or reading emails and then get paid for your time. The pay is often low, with surveys being worth around fifty cents each, but it requires little effort on your part. As with PTC, be very careful and I would advise against paying money for any features.
Freelance/Writing
If you enjoy writing you can find sites that will pay you to write blog posts or other content. I occasionally write for textbroker.com which typically pays a cent per word, so a 250 word blog post would pay $2.50. The better your writing, the more money you can make and the more projects you can accept. There are many other freelance sites out there that pay you to write, create computer programs, draw commissioned art work, etc.
E-Commerce
Sites like craigslist, E-Bay, Amazon, and Etsy allow you to sell items you either already own or can make yourself. This method requires the most work as you need to have items to sell and you have to do at least some marketing to get the word out.
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