I need to get organized.
I need to get things planned.

Goals, baby. I’ve got goals.

Image via CrunchBase

Have any of you ever heard of Etsy?

Listen carefully… if you’re creative or crafty in any way, shape or form, and you’re not selling your wares on Etsy, you’re missing the damn boat.

I have a friend who is selling her paintings there (successfully, I might add) for over $400 EACH. Some are going for $650 or higher.

I have another friend who has made over $30,000 in one year, by selling her art dolls.

Others are making thousands selling handcrafted jewelry, crocheted or knitted items, art/altered books, photography, digital paintings, doll clothes, prints, graphics, you name it. It’s amazing, and I’m ready to start trying it myself.

I’ve long been an “artsy” type. Paintings, sculptures, jewelry, crochet… I do it. Now I’ve got more motivation to actually finish my projects, because I’m going to sell them on Etsy. I’ll keep you posted on how I do, maybe with monthly reports, etc.

Bottom line, if it’s made by hand, you can sell it on Etsy, and that includes digital items and graphics.

So what are YOU going to sell in your Etsy shop!?

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Okay, it’s great news! The highest national average was in July 2008, at $4.11 and now the national average is $2.10 per gallon.

I really, honestly swore that we were never going to see it drop below $3/gallon. I was convinced that since we were all going to be so used to paying that much, that the oil/gas companies weren’t going to let it drop. I mean, two whole dollars less over the course of less than six months?

Stupid thoughts (Or, things I think of as possibilities, but don’t necessarily hold any factual evidence):

1. Gas never needed to be that high in the first place. It was a scam. It was a ploy to get more of our money into the economy.
2. Automotive companies won’t need as much of (if any) bailout now, because they can go back to charging what they were for trucks and SUV’s.
3. People are going to continue to contribute to ruining the environment, now that gas is back down. Viva la Hummer! *eyeroll*
4. Americans aren’t going to learn a thing from this. Sure, there are hippies and frugalites abound, but for the most part, this country’s still going to keep wasting fossil fuels.
5. Uh, does this mean my home heating oil will get cheaper, too?

So yes, we know that the gas price drop is going to help us in the pockets (especially those of us who traded in gas hog vehicles for higher MPGs) but what does this really mean for the American economy? Everything else went up in cost because of the fuel costs, so now that they’re down, will everything else go back down too? Can we finally buy that box of Wheat Thins for less than two bucks?

Thoughts?

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Citizens Bank has just relaunched a promotion for their Green$ense setup. Green$ense allows you to EARN up to $120 a year for using your Citizens checking card for paperless transactions. They’ve got a promotional game giveaway going on through the month of November 2008 that helps teach you where you can save money and energy in your home, as well as a game for a chance to win $50 (you can play once per day), and then they give you details on the program.

Grow Your Green$ense (the “Promotion”) is open only to legal residents of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, or Vermont who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry.

Limit: Each participant may enter/play one (1) time per day during the Promotion Period (November 1 – November 30, 2008).

Sweepstakes Prize: ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE: $10,000 Citizens Bank or Charter One Gift Card. Approximate Retail Value (”ARV”): $10,000. Odds of winning the Sweepstakes Prize depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Promotion Period.

Instant Win Game Prizes: THIRTY (30) FIRST PRIZES (1 per day): $50 Citizens Bank or Charter One Gift Card. ARV: $50. Limit: One (1) Instant Win Game prize per person.
TOTAL ARV OF ALL PRIZES: $11,500.

I’ve been looking to change banks, to be honest. After getting hit with fees up the yin-yang and dealing with lazy reporting to the web service, rude tellers, too many “maintenance periods” where I can’t access my account statement, and a fee (and majorly complex process) for accessing their bill pay system, I’m thinking that Citizens might have what I need… plus I can earn $120 a year!? Shoot… I’m off to sign up NOW.

Okay, almost three years and the “Sinowal Trojan” and an online gang of Russian thieves has over half a million credit card numbers at their disposal. Oh yay.

On Friday morning, the RSA FraudAction Research Lab reported it had uncovered a digital cache of more than a half million credit card numbers and online bank account logins and passwords that have been acquired during the past two-and-a-half years by what the researchers believe is a Russian online gang.

These caches of stolen identity information are created automatically by digital Trojan horse programs that steal the information from computer users after they have taken over their systems. The Trojans are usually distributed by networks of zombie computers known as botnets.

The RSA researchers said that the cache they had discovered had been collected by a program known as the Sinowal Trojan. Sinowal is particularly insidious because it is technically sophisticated. (via NYT)

A few ideas on how you can ensure you don’t fall victim to stuff like this:

• Change your passwords often, people. And make them HARD TO DISTINGUISH. If a computer bot sees “Qu4xj09248sjkenHFK124″ it might not quite realize it’s a password. Before you freak out about that garbled mess…
• Write passwords down on a sheet of paper, rather than letting them sit “in storage” on your computer. Clear out your computer’s cache, saved form info, passwords, etc.
• Use anti-virus software. I don’t care if it’s Norton, McAfee, or the free AVG. Get it, use it, and use it often. I set up scheduled scans for 2am every night.

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Okay, so I let this whole thing go untouched for just a little too long now (since MAY!) and I’m back with a vengeance!

I’ve lost some control – in various aspects of my life – and I am gripping strong to controlling my finances right now, because flat out, it’s all I have. Sure, I’ve got my parents, true friends, my dogs… but I need to get a grip on something or I’m going to go crazy, so finances it is!

I’ve been spending a lot of time reading other personal finance blogs, filling up my RSS reader with all these great sites to get inspired by. It’s time I do something to inspire myself and others, so here I am. Join me on this journey, and for God’s sake, don’t let me fall off again, PLEASE!?

I’m not an expert (clearly). I’m not even looking to become one, in the general sense. I just want to finally start this journey, share it with you, and learn as we go. So what do you say?

I’m going to revamp a little more around here, so please feel free to offer suggestions and ideas. I’m anxious to get this thing rolling downhill!

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I KNOW that there are people out there complaining that with today’s US economy, they can’t afford to save anything. They’re behind on bills, so the money should go there. They’re paying $4.20 a gallon in gas, so the money’s going there. They’ve been buying organic food for so long, they can’t bear to switch back to the cheaper stuff, so the money’s going there. They don’t have the time to soak beans, so the money’s going there.

I’m tired of all the excuses, because dammit a dollar is a dollar!

Now, am I perfect? Hell no. Do I eat out more than I should? Yep. Do I drive more than I should? Probably. Do I use more laundry detergent than I need to? Yes. Do I neglect to turn the computer off when I’m not using it? Uh-huh. But I’m still saving money. I’m making deposits ALL THE TIME into my ING business savings account.

Is it a lot? Nope.
Maybe $250 a month for right now. But it’s $250 I’m not touching. I’m not spending it on clothes, or new makeup, or getting my nails done. I’m not spending it on dining out, and I’m not putting it in my gas tank. I’m also not smoking anymore, which technically saves me another $300+ every month, so that’ll eventually go in there too I’m sure.

Let’s say you make $600 a week take-home pay. My situation is extremely different, but for most working Americans, this is the case, a weekly pay.

That’s $2400 a month, or $28,800 a year, again, take home pay.

It’s not a lot of money, is it? I remember graduating from high school 14 years ago, and thinking that $30k a year was pretty damn good. Not anymore. Especially if you have a mortgage, kids, that kind of thing. So why bother trying to save, right? WRONG.

Putting just $10 a week away at the end of a year gives you $520 not including interest.
(You can find $10 in just two fast food meals, or 5 daily takeout coffees.)
Putting just $20 a week away gives you $1040 after a year.
(You can find $20 by skipping out on dinner at a restaurant one night per week.)
$30 a week? $1560 after one year.
(You can save up $30 by bringing your lunch to work every day, especially if it’s leftovers from dinner.)

The point is, at the end of that year, you have anywhere from $500 to $1500 MORE than you did at the end of the year before. If you spend that money, particularly on those things mentioned, you have NOTHING to show for it at the end of the year. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Think about it – what ways can you cut back, and put that money to better use than an buying all that coffee or pre-prepared food? How much CAN you afford to put away every week, and if you’re already doing it, how much MORE can you put away?

Why am I writing about this, this way? Because I’m the first to admit that I have VERY little knowledge in investing. I mean, like, next to nothing. I know how stocks work, “buy low, sell high”, and I know about Roth IRAs versus Traditional IRAs, I know a little about 401k’s and employer (which I don’t have) matching, but when it comes to managing my own investments, I’m pretty clueless.

Yep, this is when most people go out and hire a financial planner.
Instead, I took $90 and tossed it into a ShareBuilder account.

What I’m hoping for here is that my measly little sum will do something (positive or negative) that will help teach me more about money markets and such. I’ve currently invested portions into AGG and SPY, which apparently gives me a moderately conservative investment portfolio.

My goal is to play with this little money, as opposed to slapping it into my ING account. In fact, I pulled it out of there to get the ShareBuilder account started. I’m not ever going to put the money in unless I know I’m going to have it to “lose”… much like if you go to a casino (or at least whenever I used to go), you only bring what you can afford to lose. (FWIW, I haven’t been to a casino in years now, but whenever I would go, I’d bring no more than $60 with me. Once that was gone (if it was gone), I was done. If I made some, I’d take my winnings and head for the door. I couldn’t stand to watch my friend who would rack up $800 on a $20 deposit on a slot machine, and then she’d blow it all, hoping for the bigger payout! So I’d take my piddly profit of $50 and book it right to the bank.)

Anyway, I’m getting off topic here.

While I know that making uneducated investments is probably pretty stupid, I love how ShareBuilder ran a little quiz with me to help me find out what would be the best investments for me right now. These two funds were what was recommended to me by ShareBuilder (See? I’m not THAT gutsy!) so I figured it’d be a fairly safe bet to start with.

Anyone investing in any funds, or have experience with ShareBuilder that they want to share?

Oh, and if you’re interested in signing up with ShareBuilder, let me know and I’ll send you a referral by email. If you sign up under me, I’ll get 5 free trades, and you’ll get a FREE $55!

Wow, you have several ongoing projects daily. How do you allocate your time?

And do you have days when you just don’t feel like writing?

Time management is one of those things I do struggle with, and some days are worse than others. Sometimes I do get overwhelmed with, “Oh gah… where do I start?” but the bottom line is that I know it needs to get done if I want to get paid… so I just do it.

Just like any other job, if you don’t go in and do your work, you get fired. The bonus in my situation is that I truly LOVE what I do and I also have the freedom to pretty much work on whatever strikes me at the moment. If I’m more interested in writing about music than I am anything else on any given day, then I do a lot of work on the music blog. If I’d rather read and write about personal finance, I do that here. Is it a struggle sometimes to make sure there’s a balance? Yeah, sometimes. But I’m getting better at it.

There are hours or days I don’t want to write anything. In that situation I tend to focus more on design work for clients or myself. If I’m really just itching to get off my duff and go do something, I do it. Because I know that the computer will be there when I get back, and I know that for me, fortunately it’s not something I can be happy staying away from for too long. Maybe it’s the financial motivation (I have a list taped to my computer outlining what’s going to get me however much money each month) or maybe it’s the feeling of accomplishment that I crave. Maybe it’s a combination of those things and much more. Either way, it’s something that’s ingrained in me… I doubt it can be easily learned. If you’re the kind of person who HATES being locked up inside, then you need to get yourself a job that keeps you outside. (For what it’s worth, I can work from anywhere I can get an internet signal… so that helps too.) But if you’re really passionate about making money online, and doing it the right way (with time and effort), then you can definitely learn your own patterns and succeed. (For example, I get downright sleepy around 3pm every day. So I try to get up and off the computer then, and either go do something productive around the house or yes… take a nap.)

It all really boils down to one thing: money. I need it, I want it, and I am willing to put in the time and effort in ways I enjoy to get it. Find your “niche” and you’ll feel the same way, I promise!

Thanks for your questions, Jeflin!

The truth of the matter is that the majority of this comes from my internet marketing and web design/development business. However there are other ways I’m making decent income off the internet.

I currently write a music blog for an awesome blog network called b5media. That blogging job is (at the moment) getting me about $160 a month. The income from that one blog has grown from the day I started, which back then was only $50 a month, and that was just about a year ago (I can’t believe it’s been that long!). Of course, the potential for this can continue to grow, as b5media also pays bloggers based on pageviews in addition to a flat rate each month. The more marketing and self-promotion I do for the blog, the more pageviews I get, which means more money.

I’m also doing some ghost writing for two other blogs, garnering me about $600 a month (these projects are starting officially in June). This runs through the business though, in a way, because I got those jobs from a client’s clients.

I also do some virtual assistant work for Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net. I met Darren face to face back a couple years ago at a meetup he held in NYC (one of the rare occasions he was here in the states), and things rolled on from there. Darren’s become not only a client, but also a very good friend of mine, and I am grateful every single day for the opportunity I had to meet him and connect our lives despite the 11,307 miles between us.

A.D.D. Moment: Did you know that Google Maps gives you funny ways to get to places overseas? When I was trying to get the exact miles from my home to Darren’s by asking for directions, Google told me to “Kayak across the Pacific Ocean” for 7,906 miles! Seriously, give it a try and see what they tell you. They also told me to swim the Atlantic to get to London one time!

Okay, back to the topic. I also have a total of 3 other blogs where I currently sell advertising via various methods (I’ll get into these one at a time at some point), and some projects still under wraps that I’m hoping will further generate more income.

Client projects can range anywhere from an hourly rate to full-fledged $1,500-$10,000 projects. As I’m sure you can imagine, the largest projects are fewer and farther between, however they are out there, and I have done several in the 2.5 years I’ve been in business for myself. I also do many projects for a couple thousand here and there, but those tend to be “feast or famine”, which is why I’ve decided to focus a lot of my energy on personal projects to help fill the voids.

So I hope that gives you a little insight to how I’m making money currently via online projects. In the past, I’ve worked eBay, sold my artwork and craft projects, and even sold off old clothing to make a few extra bucks, so using your imagination is a surefire way to help you get your finances a boost when needed.

What ways are you working to make more money online?