Income Alternatives

Even I spend time scouring the Internet for new ways to make money

2011-11-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

There are times when I spend hours and hours on the Internet trying to find the best and easiest way to make money online. If you also spend time looking for different ways to earn a little cash online you might consider giving this link a try. http://www.experienced-people.co.uk/1042-top-ways-of-making-money-online/

There are a lot of ideas and not all are for everyone but maybe you will find one or two that will work for you. Good luck in your money making endeavors.

Contests

2011-09-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

The other day I was thinking about a solar project and ended up at the Instructables website. While clicking through a bunch of projects I noticed that they had several contests running. So I decided to enter a couple of them. I think that I have a pretty good chance of winning one of them.

If I do win I would win a Teton Sports Scout Frame Backpack, Leatherman Juice XE6, 100ft of Paracord, and a SAS Survival Handbook along with an Instructables Prize Pack. If you have an account with Instructables please vote for my entry. Just click this link.

Fiverr earnings update

2011-07-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

To date I've sold 11 link packages on Fiverr. That comes to $44 less Paypal fees. The link packages that I'm selling is a link to your site on three of my blogs for 6 months. It costs the buyer $5 so if you would like to cut out the middle man and purchase a link package directly for $4 [which is a 20% discount] just send me a message.

I do have a couple of other items that I'm trying to sell on Fiverr but no bites yet.

The Emergency Savings Conundrum

2011-05-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

Earlier I posted that my van had lost the transmission. At the time I paid for it with a credit card. Now the bill for the credit card has arrived and I have a decision to make. Looking at the big picture I have two options. The first option is to raid my emergency savings fund and payoff the the outstanding balance. The second option is to make payments until the loan is paid off.

My concern is tapping the emergency fund for such a large amount. What happens if something even more catastrophic occurs. In my mind it seems like a better idea to payoff the loan over time while maintaining the balance on the emergency fund. But then I think that I should payoff the loan and replenish the emergency fund over time.

The expenses associated with the transmission problem along with additional work done to the van once I got home would take a significant percentage out of the emergency fund. Thus my conundrum. As I waffle on this issue I look at points of financial impact including.

Likelihood of loss of earnings
Possibility of reduction in earnings
Cost of interest on the loan
Near future budgetary concerns
Moving the loan from a credit card to another loan vehicle

Ultimately I have decided to raid the emergency fund to payoff the loan. But anyone facing a similar conundrum must take a look at their own situation and consider the different variables as they relate their situation.

I made $12 selling links this month

2011-04-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

A while ago I signed up for Fiverr and offered links on my blogs for a six month run. I sold one link back in January. Nothing since. Until this month. This month I sold three more. Pretty quick way to make $12. Fiverr keeps $1 per sold "gig."

I insert the link, let the buyer know and I can withdrawal the payment in 14 days. Quick and easy. I can't wait until more people purchase my "gig."

Ugg lost my transmission

2011-04-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

On my annual journey to Myrtle Beach, SC I lost the transmission in the van. It happened about 30 miles north of Columbia, SC. While in the passing lane accelerating all of a sudden there was no power and the tachometer spiked into the red. Now unable to pass the line of cars in the right lane we made our way to the shoulder of the highway.

From the shoulder of the highway we were able to secure a tow and a car rental reservation. The van was towed the 30 miles to a transmission shop in Columbia and the tow truck driver was kind enough to drop us off at the airport so we could pickup the rental car. So we drove back to the transmission shop to retrieve our luggage.

We drove the rest of the way to Myrtle Beach that same day. Between the transmission repair, the tow, and the car rental my credit card got quite the workout.

Know your options

2011-03-30T18:00:00.001-07:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Fannie Mae for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you are falling behind on your mortgage payments it is a good idea to find out what alternatives you have available. KnowYourOptions.com is a good resource for you or someone you know who is having financial trouble.

There are several areas that may be of interest:

Options to stay in your home - These options include refinance, forbearance, modification and deed-for-lease.

Options to leave your home - These options include short sale [which is when you sell your home for less than the balance remaining on your mortgage] and deed-in-lieu [which is when you voluntarily transfer the ownership of your property to your mortgage in exchange for a release from your mortgage loan and payments.

The "Beware of scams" section lists both resources [such as phone numbers to HUD approved counseling agencies] as well as scams to look out for.

There is even a pretty cool video simulation called WaysHome that puts you in the role of a homeowner who is in financial distress. You make decisions and the simulation provides the outcomes both good and bad based on your decisions. It is a pretty effective learning tool.

Know Your Options by Fannie Mae is a great website to inform yourself about the options that are available. It is very important to gather information for yourself and maybe turn to an expert to help you make a decision as to what to do when your finances make it difficult to stay in your home.

Thinking about buying a small business

2011-03-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

I would love to own my own business. Be my own boss. But starting a business from scratch has been difficult for me. Trying to figure out what kind of business will do well, creating a business plan, diving into it without much of a safety net.

So I got thinking maybe buying an existing business would work. The biggest problem with this idea is coming up with the funding. I've found a couple of businesses that look good but the price tag is over $500,000.

So I thought perhaps the seller would finance the deal. Sadly the broker shot me down. The broker was quite rude which surprised me.

So I'm back to looking for another opportunity.

Good bye to free checking accounts?

2011-03-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

Last year Congress added an amendment to the financial reform bill that would reduce the amount of interchange fees merchants have to pay financial institutions to process debit card transactions. What this amounts to is a transfer of wealth from the financial institutions [banks, ect] to the merchants [Wal-mart, Target, ect].

Even though the reasoning behind the amendment to have the merchants reduce prices on the merchandise they sell because their interchange expense would be reduced the likelyhood that this will actually occur will be minimal, at best.

The financial institutions will be collecting less in fees from these merchants making checking accounts less profitable. So how are financial institutions going to make up this income shortfall? Easy...start adding fees and restrictions to checking accounts. So the transfer of wealth will ultimately be from us, the consumer, to the merchants.

Yes, you might be able to find free checking accounts if you look hard enough. So a total extinction of free checking accounts, like the total extinction of the fabulous hooked billed Dodo bird is probably not going to happen. But I'd bet that in a lot of cases your bank will no longer offer a truely free checking account, an account without fees or restrictions.

Beach Bum Apparel additions

2011-03-15T04:42:00.000-07:00

New t-shirts and mugs added to my online apparel store. Check them out. I hope to have some more by the end of the year. I don't make a bunch on them but I have no overhead. So it is a quick and easy way to set up an online t-shirt store.

My CentSports winnings are over $50

2010-12-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

After several nice long winning streaks I've finally broke $50 on CentSports. My plan is to keep accumulating my winnings until I reach $100 and then cash out $20. I'll repeat this every time I reach a balance of $100.

Now all I need to win my way to $100. If you would like to try your luck, click the link and become my crony. Thanks!

Signed up for AdBrite

2010-09-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

Many months ago I was kicked out of Google's Adsense because they claim that I had invalid clicks. I tried to convince them that what ever had happened was not of my doing. They rejected this and I lost that revenue source. I was pretty unhappy.

So over the weekend I signed up with Adbrite to try to replace the Adsense revenue stream. So far no earnings but I expect that to come over time. I may have to tweak where the ads are on the web page in order to get the maximum effect. I will leave the ads where they are for about a week before trying new locations.

The recent gas line explosion made me think

2010-09-10T05:37:00.000-07:00

In reading about the explosion due to a gas line break in California, a thought occurred to me. Most people don't have an action plan to turn to if they are in a crisis. Part of the story was about a woman who returned home to discover it on fire and didn't know where to look for her father and husband.

Of course the moral of the story is to have a place where you and your family can rendezvous. Multiple locations would be ideal. Depending on the situation the type of crisis would dictate the location. A very localized crisis could mean that you meet at a nearby restaurant. While a larger disaster might mean you meet at a motel in a different state or maybe a relative's house out of state.

These are just a few ideas to get you started on a crisis action plan. Happy disaster preparation.

The benefits of Boost Mobile

2010-09-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.

Boost Mobile, although I don't personally use it, seems to be a cost effective way to own and operate a mobile phone. Instead of a two year contract that most people end up getting when they purchase a new phone with Boost Mobile you can pay month to month and won't be surprised by overage charges when your bill comes in the mail. You even have the option of monthly unlimited plans. I'm not sure if they have family plans. I'd be interested in finding that out.
With the Re-Boost option you can add funds to your account either on line, in person or pay by phone. You can even setup recurring payment to your Boost Mobile account.

Boost Mobile has a wide variety of phones available. One phone manufacturer that Boost Moble offers is Blackberry. The Blackberry Curve is a beautiful phone with a full QWERTY keyboard and an enhanced web browser. The browser teamed with Boost Mobile's unlimited connectivity to Facebook [at a special monthly price] shows why Boost Mobile is a powerful network for people interested in social networking. With Boost Mobile you can keep your social networks up to date even on the go.

Lazy summer coming to a close

2010-09-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

I have not work very hard this summer. And now I'm paying the price of having to work harder this fall to meet expenses. So expect to see more SocialSpark posts in the coming weeks. At least I hope to have the opportunity to create more SocialSpark posts. Quite often this blog does not qualify to take an opportunity which is annoying. I am also going to try to do more surveys. Again I don't always qualify for a survey. But I'll keep trying.

I also have a couple of other ideas that I'm starting to work on. One will be a dynamic web site that just might keep you alive. I'm pretty excited about it. More on that when I get ready to launch it.

Thinking about dropping cable

2010-09-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

Previously I mentioned that I was dropping the movie channels from my cable service. I've enjoyed the lower monthly bill. The next step would be to drop cable TV all together. My newest TV picks up the local broadcast channels just fine. And it has a PC port so I can plug a computer into the back so I can watch some of the cable channels from their websites.

What I will probably do is get everything setup and test it for a weekor two before calling the cable company and dropping the TV service.

Here is a thought...use the library

2010-08-10T00:46:00.000-07:00

Stunning thought I know. I had just reread the first three books of the Pelbar Cycle series. I've owned them for a number of years and just decided to read them again. But after finishing the third one I decided that I wanted to finish the series. My first thought was to use my Mturk earnings to purchase the books on Amazon. But I've been saving that money for a power washer. It then occurred to me that I might be able to find them at the local library.

I jumped on the Internet and navigated to the library's website and searched the catalog for Pelbar. I did get a hit for the first book in the series. But not the rest. I noticed that they offered inter-library loans. After clicking that link and doing another search I found book four at a university library that I could request it sent to my local library. Very cool...now all I needed was a library card.

I stopped by on my way to the grocery store and signed up for the card. While I was there I browsed the stacks and found a Tom Clancy book that I had not read. I checked it out and requested book four from the Pelbar Cycle. It may be a while before I spend money on my reading habit again.

My biggest CentSports wager to date.

2010-07-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

My CentSports balance has been hovering in the $30 to $32 range for about a month. Even though I've had a nice run or two of winning bets. I always seem to go a little big and then lose. Well this time I went bigger than normal while betting on the Netherlands-Uruguay soccer match. I bet $10 which was a little less than a third of my balance. If Netherlands won [which they did] I would win $6. I was starting to sweat when I heard the score was 1-1 at half time.

Now my balance is over $39. My goal for the end of July is $42.50

I tend to make a bunch of small bets in the hopes that the majority are winners and will move my balance upward. If you would like to try your luck, click the link and become my crony. Thanks!

Another expense reduction

2010-06-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

The twelve month deal that Charter Communications had given me just ended. My bill went from like $100 to $150. Ouch. I called them to see what other deals they might have available. They had deals on internet and TV but not for the movie channels. So I dropped the movie channels. This will save me $26 per month. Sorry HBO it was fun while it lasted. In the end my bill will be around $90 per month. I might pick up Netflix for $8.99 per month for my movie fix.

I'll keep looking for areas to reduce expenses as well as earnings opportunities.

I need to blog more

2010-05-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have been slacking from my blogging. It seems like life has gotten a bit crazy. Time seems to slip by. And when I try to write a post I come up blank. So today I decided to write a post about not being able to write a post. Ok I'm running out of steam. Ideas are getting murky.

Leaving on a road trip

2010-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Leaving on my annual spring break road trip.For the third year in a row we will be heading to Myrtle Beach, SC. I'll be meeting Beach Guy down there. We will be staying at the Marriott resort again, right on the beach. The surfing is not the best but there is a lot to do. I'm guessing that there are good spots because there are several surf shops...I just don't know where they are.
Can't wait to get there.

Free pizza samples

2010-03-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Tony's Pizza. All opinions are 100% mine.

I just received several coupons for free Tony's Pizza. They are part of a marketing campaign through Social Spark. They are offering coupons to bloggers to try their pizza and then to blog about the pizza. When I heard about this opportunity I jumped on it. As America's Beach Bum I almost always take advantage of freebies like this.

I usually eat more frozen pizza than delivery. I find that frozen pizza to be much more economical than delivery. I might invite some fellow beach bums over after a day of beach volleyball to watch a movie or go for a swim. It is easy to grab a pizza or two or three out of the freezer and pop them in the oven. And it won't kill my budget. Buying three pizzas from a pizzeria could run around thirty dollars and that would bust my budget. Being a beach bum is not a high paying gig so keeping to a budget is very important.

After cooking pizzas for my friends I pull them out of the oven pull the rotary pizza cutter out of the knife drawer and slice each pizza into eight wedges. I usually prefer pop [yes I said pop...not soda] with pizza. If it is a movie night we head to the basement where I have my big TV setup. We will camp either on the couch or the bean bag chairs and settle in to watch the movie. Pizza and a movie with friends, life is good.

Made my Twitter goal

2010-03-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, I finally made my Twitter goal of 100 followers. I can potentially receive offers to pay me to tweet ads. So far I have not had any offers. Hopefully soon I'll have some offers. I've set my price at $1.00 per tweet. If you are interested in this program you can click the ad in the sidebar to join. Of course, by clicking the ad you will become a referral of mine allowing me to earn when you earn money from tweeting.

So far I have one referral but have not earned any money from the referral.

Spring break planning

2010-03-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

Planning another spring break road trip. I've secured accommodations in Myrtle Beach, SC for the third straight yea,. invited a a few fellow beach bums and created a packing list. We are hoping that the weather will be good. Perhaps we will catch a few sets if the water temperature is warm enough.

As in years past we will be staying at the Marriott right on the beach. The rooms are ocean front and might over look the pool. At least I hope it does. Can't wait to leave.

Surfin' Sid-America's Beach Bum T-shirts

2010-02-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

I've just opened a merchandise shop on printfection.com. I hired a young man from the Phillipines to create a logo for me. Once the logo was created all I had to do was create my shop at printfection.com and upload the image. Voila! I'm in business. I hired the young man through odesk.com and he made the logo very quickly. I hope to sell enough shirts to pay for the logo.