My November Money Challenge...The Recap

I can't believe the month is over!  I actually did make some money this month and the most important thing that I learned is that if I want to make money and/or be a successful writer, I need to do something EVERY DAY towards these goals.  Sitting around and thinking about making money or thinking about becoming a real writer doesn't make it happen.  It takes concentrated effort--daily effort--in order to realize a good outcome.  So that's what I intend to do--work everyday on both my writing and making money.
There were quite a few times during this challenge that I longed for my cushy, high paying job (easy work, big paychecks) but now, whenever I contemplate applying for a job or starting my own business again, I cringe.  I just want to be a writer so I can enjoy a flexible schedule, rampant creativity, and who knows, one of these days maybe even success!
Here's how much money I made this month:

• $125 sold netbook
• $50 sold Freelance Switch article
• $3 for doing two surveys on Opinion Outpost
• $50 billed a client for her website which I had previously given her for free
• $150 for remaking a website for a client
• $20 a percentage of hubby's poker winnings
• $10 won playing pai gow (gambling)
• $210 sold old laptop
• $50 sold another Freelance Switch article
• $25 a percentage of hubby's poker winnings
• $70 sold an article to Dollar Stretcher
• $32.27 in AdSense for November

For a grand total of....$795.27   Which makes me $204.73 short of my goal of $1000.  Not bad...

p.s. Thank you all for being so supportive of me and my challenge!!!!!!!

Day 30 of My Money Challenge

Well today is the last day of my money challenge.  Unfortunately it kind of ended with a whimper instead of a bang:

• Today I "earned" $25 (25% of hubby's winning at the casino). 
• (Updated) If I would have checked my email today I would have seen that Dollar Stretcher bought one of my articles so that is another $70! 

Actually it was our anniversary and we had a completely free day.  With hubby's comps from playing poker we enjoyed a nice dim sum lunch and watched the movie "Tower Heist" at the theater complete with soda and popcorn.  Fortunately it was all free because there is no way we pay regular price for movies these days (the cost for two people just for movie tickets was $20 and a shared drink and popcorn was $10)!
I'll do a recap tomorrow and figure out how much I earned this month.

Day 29 of My Money Challenge...And Some Other Stuff

Today I actually DID something for my money challenge:

• I wrote an article and sent it off to Dollar Stretcher (I hope they buy it!).
• Also, I received emails back from Freelance Switch saying that they will buy another of the articles I sent them but not buy the last article I sent...win some, lose some I guess!

And some other stuff:

• The money challenge will be over tomorrow so I will post a recap on Thursday.
• It is me and the hubby's anniversary tomorrow (21 years married and exactly 25 years together!).
• I found a new social media site that I just love (and I don't usually think social media sites are very great).  It is new and called Chime In and the people on the site seem very nice (and for some reason many appear to be professional photographers because the photos they post are AMAZING!).  Check it out.
• We will go to the SIL's wedding this weekend in Tennessee.  It should be fun but I heard it is snowing there.  Eekkk
• When we get back we will move into the condo. Yeah!  Our first place in nearly a year!
• I was so annoyed with The Palms poker room management today.  Hubby had purposely played there enough to qualify for a "freeroll" tournament and the tournament was supposed to be held today.  He was nearly guaranteed a minimum of $200 and if he did well, $1000.  Without warning the tournament was postponed (they couldn't find a room to hold the tournament in.  Really? In the entire huge casino?).  There have been some other wonky issues there too which just really annoyed me (and the many other players who came in today expecting to play in the tournament).  So hubby went to play at a different casino today and apparently so did ALL of the other poker players because when we went by in the afternoon and again in the evening on our way to dinner, there wasn't a soul playing there.  Serves them right!

Days 27 and 28 of My Money Challenge: The Fail Edition

I have to admit that yesterday and today were a total fail with the money challenge, I didn't do anything to make money but I have found that I am very good at spending money...unfortunately.  The reason I didn't get busy doing something productive, like writing some articles to submit or working on my Kickstarter application, was because a mix of Cyber Sunday sales along with a bout of tech envy propelled me to Walmart and Best Buy yesterday where I bought a new camera and a new cell phone that I ended up playing with all day instead of doing something productive. Bummer. 
I did get a great price on the camera (regularly $229, on sale for $129 then because I had to wait in line so long to pick it up, the nice guy at Best Buy gave me an extra $20 discount PLUS I will get a $10 Best Buy gift card in the mail for picking the camera up instead of having it mailed).  So I got the camera (plus a free 4mg memory card and free camera bag) for about $100 and it is supposed to be a really excellent camera (the camera I got just a couple of months ago doesn't really take clear pictures so I will send it to the son in the Philippines where he can use it or sell it if he wants to make some money). 
The cell phone was an OK deal...at $199 it isn't a super sale price but I didn't need to get a two year contract for it either.  It is supposed to be a very good phone, and they seem to be sold out at Amazon and most of the Walmarts I checked (the Walmart I went to had this one hiding behind other phones).  I did have to go up from my $30 a month plan to the $50 a month unlimited plan so, financially speaking this wasn't such a great move, but sometimes I get the "I WANT IT" mentality...and hubby just rolls his eyes (at least hubby is happy with getting my old cell phone which is much better than the phone he was using...).  See, I can justify just about anything!

Day 26 of My Money Challenge: The Audacity Edition

Today (actually yesterday--the internet went down in the afternoon and I wasn't able to make this post so I had to wait until today today but anyway...) for my money challenge I did something audacious...
It is getting towards the end of my money challenge and I am still a little ways away from the $1000 I wanted to make this month so I started thinking.  I started wondering if there was anyone who owed me money that I could collect from.  Then I remembered a client from more than a year ago.
I had a client who I made a website for over a year ago.  We didn't get on well from the beginning (he asked if I could make a one page site for his business and I said I could put a basic site up and then I would be on vacation and unable to work on it until I returned three weeks later, he said fine, I put up a simple site, then he proceeded to call and email me every day of my vacation about making this change and that...definitely not a good start).  When I returned from vacation we worked on the site and he kept wanting to add more and more stuff and in the end the project got way out of hand (this is when I learned about getting signed contracts with all of the nitty gritty details written down) and then he kept saying he didn't like it, and then he quit calling me, and then I figured he would have someone else do a site for him since he seemed to hate my work and although I billed him, he never paid me and I didn't keep on him to get paid because I figure if a client doesn't like my work, they shouldn't have to pay for it. 
Fast forward to now when I checked his website and found that not only is he still using the complete site that I made him, he had even had someone update it for this year with new dates.  Then, being more or less prodded by this challenge, I thought it was only fair that I be paid something for a product of mine that he has been using for over a year.  So I emailed him and, as politely as I could, requested some sort of payment as that being only fair for using my work.  While I am not holding my breath to get paid by the guy, if it wasn't for this challenge I wouldn't have made such a bold move.  I still don't know if what I did was the right thing to do.  Ayayay

Day 25 of My Money Challenge

Today for my money challenge I...

• Submitted yet another article to Freelance Switch (the editors are probably wondering who this person is that keeps spamming them with articles!).
• Tried to do an Opinion Outpost survey but when I logged in, it said I didn't fit their criteria.  I am a little disappointed that when I first signed up with OO they sent me three surveys really quickly to do but in the last week I have received only two and both said I wasn't qualified to do them (!?).  Bummer.

Day 24 of My Money Challenge

Since today (technically yesterday since I didn't touch my computer on Thanksgiving) was Thanksgiving, I took the day off from my money challenge, however, I think I may have talked my way OUT of work that I had to do for a friend.  I called up the friend that I had talked to just the day before (the one that wanted me to do some contract work for her) to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving and we got to chatting and I mentioned that the project she wanted done (she wanted me to make one of the local entities that she works with a non profit) probably shouldn't be done at this time (it's kind of a convoluted mess but the AG's office is still working on some things regarding how the state will work with the entity).  She agreed with me that it didn't make sense to have the (I am guessing cash-strapped) organization spend a pretty big chunk of money on something that may not even be necessary.  So now I think I won't be making any money on the job I was hoping would make me a good-sized chunk of money.  Oh well.  Maybe I will get some sort of good karma for doing the right thing... 

Day 23 of My Money Challenge

Today I had no idea what I was going to do for my money challenge.  We were running around getting last minute stuff for dinner tomorrow (the hubby and I are cooking!) when a friend of mine called and asked if I could do some work for her (I currently keep her website updated and have done contract work for her in the past).  She ran the project by me, I said it would be no problem, and then she asked for my mailing address so she could send me a check when the project is done.  Wow.  Talk about serendipity!
p.s. I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Day 22 of My Money Challenge

For my money challenge today I...

• Submitted another article to Freelance Switch

But mostly today I...

• Got sidetracked by the whole genealogy thing.  I'm hooked!  In fact, I told hubby our vacation next year will be to England and Scotland so I can visit the places that my great grand parents come from!

Day 19 of My Money Challenge

I did a few things online today for my money challenge, but still no money :(

• I did a bit of research about putting advertising on our van and came up with this site which seemed OK but when I asked hubby if he wanted to try it (it's his van after all) he was like "meh".
• I looked through the gigs on CraigsList and I was like "meh". And some gigs just plain shocked me...here's some examples:
• Someone wants to make a porn movie but doesn't even have a camera?! (BTW there are a ton of ads for porn/strippers/escorts. Ick).
• Someone wants to hire a person to put a cast on their leg even though they really don't need a cast (makes me wonder why...I do know how to do paper mache...).
• Someone wants to hire a complete stranger to come to their house tonight and babysit their kid!? Because they want to go out to dinner.  Worst. Parents. Ever.
• Someone wants 100+ websites built...for free.  Worst. Client. Ever.

I think I will give up on CraigsList.

Day 18 of My Money Challenge

Today I gambled!  It was on my list of ways to try to earn money and when hubby won a small poker tournament he gave me 10% ($20).  We were in the casino and although I hate gambling with my money since really, gambling is pretty much a losing game, I thought I would try a few hands of pai gow poker and see what would happen.  I started with $20, went up to $45 then dropped down to $30 at which point I quit before I lost everything.  So today I got $20 from the hubby and $10 from my gambling winnings.  I think this will be the one and only time I try gambling to win money because I am well aware that the odds are stacked in the casino's favor (except for poker which I don't play because it takes too long).

Day 17 of My Money Challenge, Money Saved, and I Love the Goodwill

First for my money challenge:

• Today I put together a new website for a client.  For about five hour's work I will be able to bill $150!

And I saved some money today:

• I was perusing the TMobile website and they had an awesome special--a new 4g MyTouch Slide cell phone for FREE if you sign up for two years of service.  I really really want that cell phone but I just couldn't bring myself to sign up for a plan which would cost me an extra $80 a month for TWO YEARS just to get the phone.  Right now our pre-paid plan gives us talk, text, and 2g of internet per month for $60 for two phones.  If we were to get the family TMobile plan and two new phones it would cost $140 a month.  that's almost a $2000 difference over the course of two years--for that price I can go on eBay and buy a new cell phone!

And I love the Goodwill:

• I need some pants so yesterday I went to Ross but couldn't find anything.  There were a couple of pairs of pants that I liked but at more than $20 each, that was way too much.  So today the hubby and I went to the Goodwill and for a grand total of $20 I got two pairs of jeans (a pair of Levis and a pair of JJill jeans which are like $90 in their boutique stores!), two t shirts, a sweater and a zip up hoodie.  Hubby said I should shop there more often--first because it saves us a ton of money and second because he knows that whenever I buy new clothes I like to wash them a few times before I wear them (I don't like the feel of "new" clothes).

Day 16 of My Money Challenge, Two Links, and an Update

First for my money challenge:

• I am writing an article today that I will submit to Freelance Switch tomorrow.
• I got an email from a client that I had contacted at the beginning of this challenge asking if they would like their website given a fresh new look for $150 and she just emailed back and said her Board said to go for it!  So that will be my main project this week.
• I relisted my laptop on CraigsList yet again at a lower price (I want to get it sold!)

Some useful links:

• 5 Retirement Investments That Pay for a Lifetime (sounds useful!)
• Scholarships A-Z (if you have kids who are juniors or seniors in high school this year, now is the time to start applying for every singe scholarship they could conceivably qualify for!)

And an Update:

• I may not be making much at this money challenge yet but I think that it really helps that I am doing something towards earning money everyday and while it may not pay off immediately, eventually the money will start coming in (I hope).  I think that after this month is finished I will continue to do something--even something small--towards earning money everyday single day.
• The light system is all messed up on our van.  It appears that the brake lights and other lights only want to work when they want to work and that isn't all the time.  I am Googling now to find out what the problem may be so hopefully we can fix it ourselves but if not, it will need to go to the shop tomorrow :(
• I am doing the 30 Days of Indie Travel Project on my other blog and it is fun.  It's always exciting to check the website and see what the new question for the day will be.  I am thinking about doing something like this for the month of December related to money.
• Finally, did you know that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK??  For some reason I was thinking it was two weeks away but it isn't. Yikes!  Where did this month go??  I offered to cook dinner for all of the cousins and they will decide this week what they want to do (they usually just go to a restaurant).  I think it is hard to get in the holiday spirit when it is warm and sunny outside as opposed to cold and gray like it is in the Pacific Northwest at this time of year.

Day 15 of My Money Challenge, a Link, and an Update

First for my money challenge:

• I did another survey for Opinion Outpost which showed up in my email.  I haven't yet figured out how it works but it looks like the survey that I did that took about 5 minutes will pay me $2.
• We gave our idea of being Las Vegas hosts a whirl today, picked up a friend from the airport, and he insisted on paying for our lunch so we got a $15 lunch for free!  We may turn this into a business!

And a link:

• I came across this post on reddit and it looks like a lot of useful tips for saving money.

And an update:

• Yes we caved to peer pressure (or sister pressure) and we will be going to the SIL's wedding the first weekend of December.  I have been checking airline ticket prices and what started out at $750 for two tickets this weekend, went down to $650 this morning, then when I checked prices again this evening it was $555 for two round trip tickets so we quickly bought them.  We will also be riding to and from the airport with the guilt-inducing sister who is renting a car so that is another expense we won't need to pay, plus lodging is free as well (I'm kind of curious to see the place that they rented--it sleeps 25 people!). 

Day 14 of My Money Challenge and a Brief Update

Today I did exactly one thing for my money challenge:

• I did one survey which come in my email from Opinion Outpost.  I still have to figure out how the system works but it was a short survey and I got 10 credit points for it (I believe that equates to about a dollar).  After I did the survey, it bounced me into another survey which needed me to re-sign up so I'm not sure what that was--I am thinking it wasn't part of Opinion Outpost and it said that all I needed to do was play a game online to "win cash and prizes"...whatever that means.  I didn't do the game but I will check my OO account later to see if I got credit for the survey I did.

Update:

• One of the hubby's other sisters called today and insisted that we go to the SIL's wedding in Tennessee at the beginning of December.  She said the sister was in tears because only one family member was going to be able to show up and that she had decided to take the weekend off work (and lose the money) just to be there so we should do the same.
• Hubby feels guilty and now we are going.
• The airline tickets alone will be $750 for both of us.  Luckily the car rental and lodging will be provided.
• I need a dress(!).  With my grand total of hardly any money made this month, I am pretty sure I will be heading to the Goodwill (besides I will probably only wear the dress once then pass it along to someone else).
• Yet another adventure in our year of adventures...

Day 12 of My Cash Only Challenge

I didn't do much for my challenge today...

• I signed up to do surveys at Opinion Outpost which was rated well on this website.  I want to wait and do a couple of these surveys to see how they go before signing up for a bunch of other survey companies.  I should get my first survey within 24 to 48 hours.

Day 11 of My Money Challenge

Finally I made some money!

• Today I sold my netbook on CraigsList for $125

So this wasn't exactly what I was thinking about for my money challenge.  After all, I want to be able to earn money instead of selling things from my ever dwindling supply of excess stuff, but it's $125 and I'll take it.  Also today we got a free buffet lunch at the Orleans Casino because hubby is a Veteran.  There is actually a long list of free stuff for Veteran's being given out today but I think one buffet a day is our limit.
Happy Veteran's Day everyone!

Day 10 of My Money Challenge

It is DAY TEN of my money challenge and I haven't made a SINGLE PENNY! Ayayay  But I keep chugging away anyway.  Here's what I did today:

• I updated my eLance profile with samples of my work.
• I got an email from Kickstarter saying they approved my project (yeah!) so now all I have to do is put the project together and post it on the site and the donations will roll in (um...at least I will keep my fingers crossed that they will!)
• A guy called about buying my netbook and said he will meet me tomorrow so hopefully that will bring in some cash
• I have been good about updating all of my blogs.  The hubby's cooking blog has got quite a few hits (I think due to my SIL who told all of her friends about it--they love it when hubby cooks so maybe they will try the recipes).  BTW, today's recipe is Sauteed Ginger and Curry Pork.  Hubby is amused that the first time in...ever...I am paying attention to his cooking, dutifully taking notes, and taking pictures too!

Day 9 of My Money Challenge

I've been typing away like a maniac today (remember, I want to be a writer when I grow up!) so here is what I have done towards my money challenge:

• I wrote and submitted an article to the Dollar Stretcher (which pays by the word, usually around $70, if the article is accepted)
• I wrote and submitted an article to Freelance Switch (which pays a flat $50 if the article is accepted)
• I updated all of my blogs (I also broke out my blogs from my regular blog list so now you will find my updated blog posts at the bottom of the right sidebar)

Also today we made a raid on the library and the 99 cent store to put together a "balikbayan box" to send to a school in the Philippines.  When we were in the Philippines we stopped by our grandson's school to visit and I was shocked to see that there were 50 kids in each classroom and very few resources for the kids (like no crayons, no books, etc).  The teachers asked if I could help so I told them I would send some books and school supplies.  Fortunately there is a shipping program in which you fill up a big box and for a flat rate of $70 they will deliver the box to any address in the Philippines.  I'm glad for the flat rate because I went to a bunch of libraries and bought a ton--at least it feels like a ton, I can't lift up the box now--of books for twenty-five and fifty cents then went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of school supplies.  We will mail the box tomorrow and it should arrive in about 45 days. Whew!
The picture above is of our grandson's third grade class.

Day 8 of My Money Challenge

I'm feeling very non-productive.  But at least with this challenge I need to so something each day in my efforts to make some money.  This is what I did:

• I reposted the ads for my laptop and netbook on CraigsList and lowered the prices on each so hopefully they will sell.
• I submitted a proposal for a Kickstarter project for the non-fiction book I want to write.  I could just write it and try to sell it to a publisher but I think if I know that the funding is there to self-publish, I will be more motivated to write it and get it to market ASAP.
• I have been making a concerted effort since the beginning of the month to keep up the blog posts on all of my blogs (seven blogs in all!) as well as linking the posts through FaceBook and Twitter so that more people will read the posts and thus generate more ad revenue (ie: more micro-fractions of a cent for each page view but oh well....).

That's all for today.  If I have time tonight I will finish up another article for Dollar Stretcher so I can submit it tomorrow.  I've decided that I want to be a writer when I grow up.