Sunday, October 21, 2018
Friday, October 19, 2018
How to Save Money
100 Ways to Save Money
First 10
1. Move bank accounts to take advantage of perks and earn more interest
If you’re paying a monthly fee for your checking or savings account, you would benefit from researching some of newest banking offers out there. Not only do some of the best banks offer sign-up bonuses simply for opening an account and setting up direct deposit, but some offer attractive interest rates to new customers as well.
It’s true that interest rates are not what they once were, but it’s still worth a look. Some of the best free checking accounts and best savings accounts can be found online. Here’s a guide on how to make that switch.
2. Turn off the television.
One big way to save money is to drastically cut down on the amount of television you watch. There are a lot of financial benefits to this: less exposure to spending-inducing ads, a lower electric bill (and perhaps a lower cable bill if you downgrade your subscription), more time to focus on other things in life — such as a side business — and so on.
Want to take things a step further? Consider cutting the cord to cable TV altogether.
3. Stop collecting, and start selling
There was a time when people thought their collections would bring them riches. Beanie Babies were a big fad at one time, as were Longaberger baskets. Now you can find those items on resale sites like Craigslist and at garage sales for a fraction of their initial cost, leaving many people who sunk thousands of dollars into their “investments” wondering what happened.
If you want to avoid that situation, don’t collect items of questionable value. And if you want to recoup some of the money you’ve already spent on collectible items, you can start selling them now and use those funds for any number of worthy financial goals. Read our “Guide to Selling Unwanted Items” for some simple strategies that can help you profit as much as possible.
4. Sign up for every free customer rewards program you can.
No matter where you live, you’ll find plenty of retailers who are willing to reward you for shopping at their store. Here’s the basic game plan for maximizing these programs: create a Gmail or Yahoo address just for these mailings, collect every card you can, and then check that account for extra coupons whenever you’re ready to shop.
You can add to those rewards and discounts by using rewards credit cards to earn points on purchases at a wide range of stores that can be redeemed for cash back or other benefits.
5. Make your own gifts instead of buying stuff from the store.
If you want to save money while also giving generously, creating your own homemade gifts is one way to accomplish both goals. You can make food mixes, candles, fresh-baked bread or cookies, soap, and all kinds of other things at home quite easily and inexpensively.
These make spectacular gifts for others because they involve your personal touch — something you can’t buy from a store — and quite often they’re consumable, meaning they don’t wind up filling someone’s closet with junk. Even better – include a personal handwritten note with the gift.
6. Master the 30-day rule.
Avoiding instant gratification is one of the most important rules of personal finance, and waiting 30 days to decide on a purchase is an excellent way to implement that rule.
Quite often, after a month has passed, you’ll find that the urge to buy has passed as well, and you’ll have saved yourself some money simply by waiting. If you’re on the fence about a purchase anyway, waiting a while can give you a better perspective on whether it’s truly worth the money.
7. Write a list before you go shopping – and stick to it.
One of the easiest ways to save money is to only shop when you have a list. Because when you’re without one, you typically end up making impulse buys and unplanned purchases – all things that cost money.
Creating a list before you go to the grocery store is especially important. Not only can it help you buy items that fit with your meal plan, but it can also help you avoid buying food you might waste. Always create a list and, more importantly, stick to it.
You can also take advantage of a cash back rewards card that gives bonus cash at grocery stores – just be sure to pay off the balance each month.
You can also take advantage of a cash back rewards card that gives bonus cash at grocery stores – just be sure to pay off the balance each month.
8. Invite friends over instead of going out.
Going out to eat or “out on the town” has a way of completely destroying both your food budget and your entertainment budget in one fell swoop. And no matter what, it is always cheaper to stay in with friends and come up with your own entertainment.
Instead of hitting the town, host a fun pitch-in dinner with your friends. Play cards, sit around a fire pit, or watch movies with your guests. You’ll all save money – and have a blast.
9. Repair clothing instead of tossing it.
Don’t toss out a shirt because of a broken button – sew on a new one with some closely-matched thread. Don’t toss out pants because of a hole in them – put in a patch of some sort and save them for times when you’re working around the house.
Most basic sewing jobs can be completed by anyone, and a little bit of practice goes a long way. Learning basic sewing skills is a great way to save some money – and extend the life of your clothing.
10. Don’t spend big money entertaining your children.
Most children, especially young ones, can be entertained very cheaply. Buy them an end roll of newspaper from your local paper and let their creativity run wild. Play ball in the backyard. Head to the park. Plant a garden. Teach them to ride a bike without training wheels once and for all.
Realize that what your children want most of all is your time, not your stuff, and you’ll find money in your pocket and joy in your heart.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
How to Make Money
How to Make Money Online Without Really Trying
Start With Pat Flynn
The first place to start is checking out Pat Flynn, the founder of Smart Passive Income. It’s a tremendous resource with over 145 free podcasts and blog posts where Pat shares his wins, losses, and lessons, and interviews guests who are making money online in numerous ways. He could easily charge a monthly membership fee to access this gold mine of content, but he gives it all away for free (or at least 99% of it).
One endearing thing about Pat is his boyish honesty and complete transparency with how he makes money. There are a lot of online sharks and snakes out there, but Pat is not one of them. He publishes money reports where he details to the cent where every single bit of income he makes comes from. It’s been quite a journey, but I’ve seen Pat grow online from making a couple thousand dollars from an e-book to making north of $75,000 a month online.
If you start with the first podcast, you will learn from Pat about what moneymaking strategies he and others are employing. Pat is not one of those coding bros whose arrogance turns you off. He’s a family guy with a big heart, who lost his job and tried his hand at making money online.
Worth noting, Pat does not rest on his laurels. He’s constantly experimenting and exploring new ways to make money, and he is always humble and continually learning, recognizing that no stream of income is risk free. What if that site shuts down and your income disappears? Smart Passive Income is a fantastic place to start or continue your research. Pat is very responsive online; I’ve gotten multiple personal emails from him in response to my questions. He won’t lead you astray.
Create an Online Course
Education has shifted in major ways over the last 10 years as new technology has brought us an expansion in university classes online. We’ve also seen an explosion in classes taught by non-college professors.
Do you have a skill, talent, or hobby you could teach other people? This is one of those “work once, get paid many times” situations. Identify your skill(s) people are willing to pay for, whether it’s how to play the cello or how to cook Malaysian food. Determine the best platform(s) for it. Record your lesson. Then sell and market it.
Why is selling a video series, digital product, or online course a better option than in-person coaching or consulting? While both are nice, creating an educational video series allows you to make money while you sleep. Virtual coaching or consulting is great as far as controlling your schedule and working virtually, but you are still trading hours for dollars. If the goal is to create passive or semi-passive income, the game plan is to work once and get paid many times for the same effort or content. A great starting point for creating digital products or courses is David Siteman Garland and his Rise to the Top business.
Sell Through Webinars
Do you have a skill or expertise to share with the world? Have you cracked the nut of how to do something more efficiently to save people time or money? There are a number of ways to get your message and story out there. Webinars, for example, are a great way to do educational-based selling.
Say you are doing a 30-minute webinar. First of all, market it as many ways as you can beforehand. Then spend the first 20 to 25 minutes of the webinar educating your audience. Yes, give away your best ideas for free. No one wants to attend a webinar that is a sales pitch for your product, service, or company.
That said, if you deliver A+ content to your audience for 20-25 minutes, it’s perfectly acceptable to spend the last few minutes sharing opportunities for your audience to learn more, buy your product, or sign up for coaching or your email list (if they haven’t already). Not sure where to start or how to execute? Here is a great guide that Lewis Howes shares with Pat Flynn on how to run and successfully market a profitable webinar.
Write a Book or e-Book
With the self-publishing services offered by Amazon and others, you can self-publish your book online for free and keep as much of 70% of the royalties, giving away a percentage for the use of the platform and its marketing prowess. You can independently publish your book and still reach millions of readers across the globe.
The publishing industry has been turned on its head in the last decade, as traditional booksellers like Barnes & Noble and Borders have struggled and online marketplaces and self-publishing have bloomed. Learn more about publishing your first novel or guide on Amazon here.
Start a Blog
If the idea of writing a whole book or guide is intimidating, then start small. As the elementary school song “Little by Little” said, “If you can’t climb a mountain, then climb a hill, that’s much better than standing still.”
Starting a blog allows you the opportunity to contribute small pieces of content gradually, and with enough content and effective marketing, you can grow an audience. Once you have an audience, there are a number of ways to monetize the traffic, such as Google AdSense, affiliate links, a blog store, selling ad space on the blog, or curating your content into an e-book to sell, among others.
But do websites and blogs really make money? Yes. As businesses big and small are shifting their advertising budgets from the yellow pages, radio, and TV to the Internet, this creates opportunities big and small for websites to help companies get in front of their target audience. According to MarketWatch, the website WebMD made over $500 million in advertising in 2012. I have a feeling just a very small percentage of that would positively impact your life!
WebMD uses a variety of moneymaking strategies and is an example of an authority website, which is the go-to place for information on a given topic. In a similar vein, The Simple Dollar is an online resource and budding authority website on personal finance topics. We value our readers and try to provide you with valuable content to keep you coming back. But your focus shouldn’t be on making millions or becoming an authority website. Your goal should be delivering value, solving a meaningful problem, and making that first dollar online.
Sell on Amazon
Do you have a storefront and a business? Have you been early to rise and early to bed running your business? Amazon has a marketplace with millions of shoppers for selling products that allows you to leverage a Wal-Mart-like superstore to sell your products.
Whether you want to sell a single product or build a business, Amazon has a fully functioning marketplace, handles payments that end up as deposits in your bank account, and allows you to do the shipping or have Amazon handle the shipping for you. Learn more about selling products on Amazon here.
Sell on eBay
Do you have some treasures lying around that you want to sell online? Could you be the neighborhood seller for your friends on eBay? If you have some basic computer skills, patience, good negotiation and pricing skills, and the ability to take pictures and write up clever and accurate descriptions, then you need to seriously consider selling on eBay.
I don’t have the patience or desire to negotiate on prices or respond to potential customer questions (which you definitely should do) and build up a good seller rating, but just because it’s not my cup of tea doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. Many people have made good money selling on eBay. To learn more, check out these tips from eBay’s power sellers.
Sell on Etsy
Many people have been able to successfully monetize their skills on such sites as Etsy, a place to buy and sell handmade or vintage items. As a craft maker, getting a lease and paying rent every month may not make sense. With Etsy, you’ve got a 24/7 audience right at your virtual doorstep.
This California mom who started selling handmade headbands and socks on Etsy “hoping to make a couple extra bucks” now clears more than $70,000 a month. These results are not common, but I like this story because she went at it just hoping to make a little money and then took the opportunity further. The moral of the story: Start small, get started. Here’s a beginner’s guide to making money on Etsy to get you on the right track.
Earn Royalties and Sales Through iTunes
Royalties are the ultimate passive income: money earned in perpetuity for something you did just once, whether it was a book, a movie, or a pop song. Are you the songbird of our generation? Get your music on iTunes. Apple’s iTunes platform sells more music than all other digital retailers combined.
To get your music in the iTunes Store, you can work directly through Apple by filling out their application for iTunes, or work with an aggregator such as CDBaby. Aggregators are experienced experts in delivering content to Apple and streaming music sites such as Spotify and Pandora. Apple keeps about 30 cents per dollar when you sell a song on iTunes, leaving 70 cents for you; streaming sites might pay just a fraction of a cent each time your song is played. But even fractions add up.
For a fee, an aggregator will help format your content and get it to Apple and other digital distributors for you. Apple has an approved aggregator list, so if your voice is the next big thing we haven’t heard about, make sure you do your homework and go through reputable channels to start making money. Here’s some info on getting in the iTunes Store and using Apple-approved aggregators.
Regardless which path you take, promote it online through social media. By sharing what you’re doing with a larger audience, you’re increasing the likelihood of money ending up in your pocket.
Once you decide to go for it, experiment, hustle, and listen to your customers. Repeat as often as needed until you turn on the faucet of your online income. As you become more knowledgeable and experienced in the online arena, you will see more and more doors and opportunities to increase your impact and income.
Best of luck, and if you have a method that’s working for you, whether it’s mentioned here or not, we’d love to hear about it in the comment section below.
Monday, October 15, 2018
How To Make Money
16 Ways to Make Money Fast
If you have some time to spare and want to earn money quickly, there are plenty of strategies to consider. Here are some quick money schemes worth researching if you want to earn cash today:
Hold a yard sale. If you have a yard or garage and plenty of items to sell, you can have a yard sale as early as tomorrow. By advertising your sale on local Facebook pages and Craigslist, you can also skip the paid newspaper ad and keep all of the profits for yourself. If you don’t have time to price everything, try asking patrons to “make an offer” or grouping similar items on tables with an advertised price (e.g. everything on this table is $5).
- Related: How to Have a Yard Sale
Sell plasma. After passing an initial screening, you can usually sell your plasma for anywhere from $25 to $50 per donation. To qualify, you’ll have to stand in a long line or show up early, be willing to fill out a very personal questionnaire, and endure a painful needle prick or two. Still, selling plasma is a great way to raise money fast – if you can stand the hassle.
Offer to watch children or pets. If you know anyone who has children or pets, you could easily begin a side gig as a babysitter or pet sitter. To let people know you’re interested, send out a group email describing your services, post an ad on Facebook, or tell friends and acquaintances about your availability in person or over the phone. You can also create a profile on a babysitting referral site like Care.com.
Set up an account on Rover.com. Enjoy furry company once in a while? These days, many professional pet-sitters set up an account on Rover.com. With Rover.com, you can reach people in your area who are actively looking for someone to watch their dogs, cats, hamsters, or turtles, either in their home or your own. You can set your own rules and schedule and come up with your own pricing through the Rover.com pet-sitting platform.
Put computer skills to use on Fiverr. If you know how to do almost anything online, you can sell and market your services on Fiverr.com. While Fiverr’s $5 minimum service charge means you won’t earn a lot at first, you can add additional perks and services once you get a steady flow of clients and a few positive reviews.
Sell stuff online. If you have high-quality items to sell, there are a slew of online marketplaces you can use. Just make sure you understand the fees associated with your sale before you take the plunge. Where neighborhood Facebook pages and Craigslist ads are free, many online marketplaces or consignment shops charge for ads or require you to fork over a percentage when you make a sale.
Recycle scrap metal. Different types of scrap metal can be recycled for cash at scrap yards around the country. However, how much you’ll make depends a lot on where you live. Metals commonly traded for cash include aluminum, copper, brass, and steel.
Rent out a parking spot. If you live in a busy or congested area and have parking to spare, you might be able to rent out your parking space for some quick cash when you’re not using it. Simply advertise your open parking space online including details on the location, whether it’s covered or uncovered, and your desired hourly, weekly, or monthly fee. If you want, you can even use a site like Just Park or download the Spot App to reach more potential customers.
Get a roommate. If you have a spare room in your home or apartment, getting a roommate is one way to raise money fast. Not only can they help pay the rent, but they can also help with other bills like utilities, cable, and Internet service.
Set up a roadside stand. Depending on where you live, you could profit handsomely by setting up a roadside stand. If you live near a resort area, for example, you could buy cases of bottled water, put them on ice, and sell them to passers by for twice what you paid. Selling fruit and produce you grow yourself is also a smart idea in highly-traveled areas.
Sign up for TaskRabbit.com. With TaskRabbit.com, you’ll be connected to local people who need help with regular chores. Depending on the day, you could get paid to walk a dog, pick up someone’s dry cleaning, or do someone’s grocery shopping. Best of all, it’s free to create a profile and get started.
Sell old textbooks. If you just finished college, you might be able to turn your old textbooks into cold, hard cash. You probably don’t need your old books anyway, and sites like Amazon.com, BookFinder.com, and Cash4Books.net make the process easy and painless.
Sell your college notes. If you paid attention in class and took excellent notes, you could sell them for a handsome profit. To see if your notes are in demand, check out Stuvia.
Sell your old cellphone. If your old cell phone is fairly new and in decent shape, you could consider selling it for some quick cash online. While selling it on eBay or Craigslist is always a possibility, you could also try your luck on technology-specific resale sites like Gazelle.com, Glyde.com, and SellMyCellPhones.com.
Become a tutor in your spare time. Subject matter experts and recent college graduates might have no problem tutoring others in their spare time – and earning money in the process. To find clients, post ads on college message boards, ask around your inner circle, or try a college tutoring site like LUVO or Tutor.com.
Sign up for clinical drug trials. Signing up for clinical drug trials is an uncommon way for people to earn extra cash, but it still works. With ClinicalTrials.gov, you can explore various clinical trial opportunities in your area. Just be sure to read the fine print, ask questions, and understand the risks.
www.TopShops.Biz
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)