I'm still on track with my No Spending Week. On Wednesday night my boyfriend and I ate at his restaurant. That gets comped so we both ate for free. That still counts right? I didn't say I wouldn't consume, just that I wouldn't spend : )
It just so happens that when I started to slack, the bf started to slack too. He was making strong progress on his own debt reduction up until recently. Part of that is due to the 401k contributions that are now being taken out of his check. When you're on a tight budget, that 5% can make a big difference. If you don't figure out how to compensate for that deduction its likely that you'll keep spending the same and the difference will show up in your bill paying funds. I think thats what happened for him. We talked about sitting down and doing budgets together. What a romantic way to spend a no-spending Friday night, don't you think? Ha.
Another thing that came up when he and I were talking was extra income. Sometimes I take for granted what a sweet side job online tutoring can be. When most people go out and find a side job it means working around two schedules. When you work 50+ hours a week at your first job (like my bf does) its pretty unlikely that you'll be able to work around a second schedule. Just imagining having to show up to a part time job in addition to a full time makes me feel miserable. If I couldn't tutor from my own home on my own schedule I wouldn't do it.
So how do people that aren't online tutors make extra cash? He's listing his old books on half.com and thinking about trying to sell his sports cards. I'm going to spend this week investigating some of the suggestions from the blogosphere including online surveys, paid writing content, referrals, and more. Hopefully the result of this experiment will help me make up for an irresponsible month and it will also provide those in need with a how-to guide for making a little money on the side without getting a second job. If you have a money making idea please send it my way!
Have a great weekend!
Friday, May 23, 2008
No Spending + Money Making = Major Debt Reduction
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7 Comments:
There's always selling old books on amazon.com, or half.com, and selling just about anything on ebay! Makes money and reduces clutter :).
I never thought of online tutoring - I don't have enough time for a part time job nor do I need one to make ends meet but some online tutoring when I do have time might be worthwhile. Thanks for passing along that idea.
Editing and blog assistance come to mind, but of course they have to be up your alley to work.
Hey there,
I just so happened to have posted an article about paid surveys from legit sources, not spam-bots that sell your email address (ugh those get my goat). My wife makes money here and there from the surveys, some pay halfway decent. Anyway, check it out at
http://engineeradebtfreelife.blogspot.com/2008/05/make-money-at-home-from-surveys.html
-madsow
i'm glad we skipped out on that whole budgets thing...we'll figure it out
:)
bf
Awww. Talking about your budgets *is* romantic. It's like sharing your dreams in a very concrete way.
For your information, there is a great little online personal budgeting website that is totally free and truly anonymous. It lets you open your private budget account with just your e-mail and asks nothing more from you.
You are immediately given a great looking, easy to use straight forward budget page, and you can also generate monthly reports to your e-mail for safe keeping before end-of-month closing and starting a new month. The budget categories are not user modifiable but the set is very rich and flexible covering just about any practical category plus a few catch all miscellaneous category, not a bad deal for a free utility. And there is an instant super easy to use online users billboard that holds discussions among users and the developer too.
The website is at:
http://www.myexp.org/OOTD_gate.php
Happy budgeting.
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