This post will be a little short today because of time issues. However, I began my search of ways to make money again and I came across an interesting idea. I read about this one guy who "sold his torso" for money everyday. Now, you are probably thinking I am talking about a "male entertainer". But no. This guy had the idea of wearing a different company's t-shirt everyday and getting paid to do it. He started out with $1 for January first and went all the way to $365 for December 31. How interesting is that? So I decided, I want to give that a try. The only difference is that I want to focus on local businesses. So my goal is to email different businesses locally and see if any of them would be interested in "buying my Torso for a day". The idea is that they would send me a t-shirt to wear for an entire day (or week, washing every night of course) for a small price. They get the benefits of cheap advertising, and I get the fun "task" of receiving t-shirts and knowing that I am helping out a business (and myself) by getting out in town and being around people. Anyways, We will see how it goes!
By the way, I have reached over 100 followers on Twitter! Thank you guys once again for following me and keeping up with this blog.
It means a lot to me!
- Blake
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Switching it up
I've decided that I wanted to switch things up a bit. I've created a Youtube channel to make videos to kind of go along with this blog. This video explains the concept of Project Save The Cents. Be sure to check it out! (Btw, I'm not a great speaker, and this is my first video, so bare with me)
Also to everyone who has been following along up to this point, I just want to say thank you for the support and for being my first followers!
Also to everyone who has been following along up to this point, I just want to say thank you for the support and for being my first followers!
Keeping it Realistic
So today's post came a little late. I have had a busy day, and I am going to elaborate on my experiences and let you get to know a little bit more about me.
I have been trying to get a job in another city (2 and a half hours away) for almost two months now with the hopes of moving there. Due to me currently searching for a job in a career field that I would feel comfortable in, I have very little money. I got a call back to set up two interviews a few days ago and stressed out all last night about how I am going to be able to afford the gas to drive 160 miles away and back for the interviews. Needless to say, I pulled an all-nighter figuring out how to get the gas money. In the end, it all worked out. I left at 6:00am to drive to the interviews. The interviews went great and I have a great feeling about the results.
I spent the rest of the day spending time with my girlfriend who currently lives in the city I am trying to move to. We also went apartment searching and had a lot of eye openers as far as finances go. Being my first place of my own, I wasn't sure was to expect, what questions to ask, or how much all the fees were going to add up to. I did a little research and found a few articles (listed at the bottom of the post) that helped us keep an eye on what to look out for and what questions are a good starting point to ask. So, all in all, we went in with unknown expectations. With the information we learned, I looked up more articles (I tend to enjoy doing that) and found a few that will also be listed at the bottom of this post that have good points that the "apartment lady" emphasized on. So if you are thinking about your first place and are unsure what to expect, take a look at those articles. The best approach though is to just visit an apartment complex, talk to someone there, and they will explain the procedures, fees, and expectations of their residents.
So I'm sure you are wondering what all this might have to do with the $0 to $1,000,000 goal. In order to save money, you must have some type of income to support yourself while you save up money. The money that is put towards my goal, can not be touched. No Matter What.. So, in order to prevent the temptations of dipping into that fund, you need to have some way to support your daily life habits. As of right now, I have no bills (Lucky me). I live under my parents roof for the time being and spend most of my time looking for a stable job. So, I am not tempted to dip into saving funds. This gave me a good ground for starting my goal and in consequence, this blog. I might post in the future about ways to cut the cost of daily living in order to put more money into your savings account.
To finish up, I put the minimum gas I would need to make my trip today in my car, and did not touch the rest of the money and put it towards my goal. It isn't much, but Every Cent Counts.
My new Balance towards my goal is $6.02!
Here are the links to help if you are beginning a search for your first apartment:
What questions to ask when viewing the apartment. You don't have to ask every single one, but pick out the ones that apply to you that you are not sure about.
http://www.housing.umaryland.edu/off_campushousing/
The one below is almost word for word what the leasing agent told us. Using the "rule of 36" when determining how much you can afford to pay for an apartment. For some places, this Rule of your apartment costing no more than 1/3 of your income is not just a suggestion, it's a requirement. Know how much you can spend.
http://charlesgaterealty.com/2013/renting-advice/how-much-can-i-afford-in-rent-each-month/
This last link explains the use of co-signers. This is what was explained to us today. Leasing Agents look at your income and want proof that your job is stable to insure that you will be able to make payments. If I get this job at First Tennessee, I will not have statements from my job yet to confirm that I can afford the payments. She stated (remember, it differs apartment to apartment) that it is required that you have a stable job for at least 3 months to increase your consideration. Due to my girlfriend recently moving up there, and me looking to move there, it is hard to provide proof that we can make the payments. The two options she gave us to get around that, were to pay a large deposit and pay first and last months rent up front. Or to get a co-signer (which would greatly decrease the deposit amount). So being a new person to this whole subject, I will provide this link so you can get more information from someone a little more knowledgeable than myself.
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2013/06/07/why-some-use-a-co-signer-on-their-apartment-lease
I have been trying to get a job in another city (2 and a half hours away) for almost two months now with the hopes of moving there. Due to me currently searching for a job in a career field that I would feel comfortable in, I have very little money. I got a call back to set up two interviews a few days ago and stressed out all last night about how I am going to be able to afford the gas to drive 160 miles away and back for the interviews. Needless to say, I pulled an all-nighter figuring out how to get the gas money. In the end, it all worked out. I left at 6:00am to drive to the interviews. The interviews went great and I have a great feeling about the results.
I spent the rest of the day spending time with my girlfriend who currently lives in the city I am trying to move to. We also went apartment searching and had a lot of eye openers as far as finances go. Being my first place of my own, I wasn't sure was to expect, what questions to ask, or how much all the fees were going to add up to. I did a little research and found a few articles (listed at the bottom of the post) that helped us keep an eye on what to look out for and what questions are a good starting point to ask. So, all in all, we went in with unknown expectations. With the information we learned, I looked up more articles (I tend to enjoy doing that) and found a few that will also be listed at the bottom of this post that have good points that the "apartment lady" emphasized on. So if you are thinking about your first place and are unsure what to expect, take a look at those articles. The best approach though is to just visit an apartment complex, talk to someone there, and they will explain the procedures, fees, and expectations of their residents.
So I'm sure you are wondering what all this might have to do with the $0 to $1,000,000 goal. In order to save money, you must have some type of income to support yourself while you save up money. The money that is put towards my goal, can not be touched. No Matter What.. So, in order to prevent the temptations of dipping into that fund, you need to have some way to support your daily life habits. As of right now, I have no bills (Lucky me). I live under my parents roof for the time being and spend most of my time looking for a stable job. So, I am not tempted to dip into saving funds. This gave me a good ground for starting my goal and in consequence, this blog. I might post in the future about ways to cut the cost of daily living in order to put more money into your savings account.
To finish up, I put the minimum gas I would need to make my trip today in my car, and did not touch the rest of the money and put it towards my goal. It isn't much, but Every Cent Counts.
My new Balance towards my goal is $6.02!
Here are the links to help if you are beginning a search for your first apartment:
What questions to ask when viewing the apartment. You don't have to ask every single one, but pick out the ones that apply to you that you are not sure about.
http://www.housing.umaryland.edu/off_campushousing/
The one below is almost word for word what the leasing agent told us. Using the "rule of 36" when determining how much you can afford to pay for an apartment. For some places, this Rule of your apartment costing no more than 1/3 of your income is not just a suggestion, it's a requirement. Know how much you can spend.
http://charlesgaterealty.com/2013/renting-advice/how-much-can-i-afford-in-rent-each-month/
This last link explains the use of co-signers. This is what was explained to us today. Leasing Agents look at your income and want proof that your job is stable to insure that you will be able to make payments. If I get this job at First Tennessee, I will not have statements from my job yet to confirm that I can afford the payments. She stated (remember, it differs apartment to apartment) that it is required that you have a stable job for at least 3 months to increase your consideration. Due to my girlfriend recently moving up there, and me looking to move there, it is hard to provide proof that we can make the payments. The two options she gave us to get around that, were to pay a large deposit and pay first and last months rent up front. Or to get a co-signer (which would greatly decrease the deposit amount). So being a new person to this whole subject, I will provide this link so you can get more information from someone a little more knowledgeable than myself.
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2013/06/07/why-some-use-a-co-signer-on-their-apartment-lease
Monday, August 11, 2014
The First Step toward my Goal: Survey Sites
Okay, now that I have began to build my followers, I have started my first method for earning a little cash to put in my savings for future use. I want to cover a lot of bases for making money, so I am starting with one of the most simple methods. A blast from the Past: Cashcrate.com
Before I was old enough to get an actual job, I watched my mom do online surveys to earn extra money.
I admit, I might have lied a little bit when my 13 year old self repeatedly clicked the "I am over the age of 18" checkboxes to complete offers. As silly or drawn out the scene of "online surveys" may seem, it actually worked for me. I am not going to say I made a ton of money, but being a kid who liked to stay up at night, it was pretty awesome to see that check for $15 roll around every month for spending a little time online.
With all that said, I have restarted using Cash Crate again with my old account. When I found the info to my old account this morning, I had a $6.35 balance. As of this moment, I now have $9.88. Due to the $20 minimum to withdraw your money in check or paypal form, I still have $10.12 to go before I can deposit it into my paypal account. However, Like I said, I am starting from the bottom so anything will help me meet my goals.
If you want to give it a try, click the logo below.
Tips for starting:
-When you create an account, be sure filter out the offers that you have to pay to complete by clicking the "100% free filter"
-the quickest offers to get approved in your account are the ones that are around 10-50 cents. So if you want to get started quick, complete some of these first
-There are surveys on this website that pay pretty good, $.50-$1.50 per survey. However, it may take a couple of tries to get qualified to take that survey
Also, Feel free to comment below on whether you chose to try it or not. If you did, be sure to update how much you make so others can decide if they would like to try it or not.
I Will keep you guys updated on my earnings!
Before I was old enough to get an actual job, I watched my mom do online surveys to earn extra money.
I admit, I might have lied a little bit when my 13 year old self repeatedly clicked the "I am over the age of 18" checkboxes to complete offers. As silly or drawn out the scene of "online surveys" may seem, it actually worked for me. I am not going to say I made a ton of money, but being a kid who liked to stay up at night, it was pretty awesome to see that check for $15 roll around every month for spending a little time online.
With all that said, I have restarted using Cash Crate again with my old account. When I found the info to my old account this morning, I had a $6.35 balance. As of this moment, I now have $9.88. Due to the $20 minimum to withdraw your money in check or paypal form, I still have $10.12 to go before I can deposit it into my paypal account. However, Like I said, I am starting from the bottom so anything will help me meet my goals.
If you want to give it a try, click the logo below.
Tips for starting:
-When you create an account, be sure filter out the offers that you have to pay to complete by clicking the "100% free filter"
-the quickest offers to get approved in your account are the ones that are around 10-50 cents. So if you want to get started quick, complete some of these first
-There are surveys on this website that pay pretty good, $.50-$1.50 per survey. However, it may take a couple of tries to get qualified to take that survey
Also, Feel free to comment below on whether you chose to try it or not. If you did, be sure to update how much you make so others can decide if they would like to try it or not.
I Will keep you guys updated on my earnings!
The Start of the Project
Ok, so this is the first step in my new project: SaveTheCents. The Basic goal is to earn $1,000,000 from absolutely $0. Many people start projects on earning $1,000,000 using one method. Well this is different. I will start out simple, using any way possible to build up my savings account, including putting money back from my job, using online websites to get small amounts of money to put towards a larger amount. Eventually, the money saved will be invested in some type of way, and begin earning money on its own.
Every step of my progress will be posted on here and twitter. These posts will include:
*Signing up for money making websites
*How much I make from each website
*My savings account balance so you can see my progress
*What websites I recommend to others
*How I invest that money, whether it be low-return CD's, high risk stocks, or real estate
*How much I put into savings from my job
*How much I earn from Investments
*In Which ways I succeed to meet my goal, and which ways made lead me to fail
I am what I like to call a Jack of all trades. I am no expert in one field, however, I like to spend my time learning about different fields. I am creative and like to have several things going on at once. This is why I made this blog in the first place. I want the reader, whether you are a college student like myself or a stay-at-home mother, to be able to find ideas of enjoyable ways to make a little extra money. This money could be used to pay bills or to follow my path, Spend none unless it will make you more money.
Follow my twitter: @SaveTheCents
Also be sure to check out my about me section to learn more about myself!
Every step of my progress will be posted on here and twitter. These posts will include:
*Signing up for money making websites
*How much I make from each website
*My savings account balance so you can see my progress
*What websites I recommend to others
*How I invest that money, whether it be low-return CD's, high risk stocks, or real estate
*How much I put into savings from my job
*How much I earn from Investments
*In Which ways I succeed to meet my goal, and which ways made lead me to fail
I am what I like to call a Jack of all trades. I am no expert in one field, however, I like to spend my time learning about different fields. I am creative and like to have several things going on at once. This is why I made this blog in the first place. I want the reader, whether you are a college student like myself or a stay-at-home mother, to be able to find ideas of enjoyable ways to make a little extra money. This money could be used to pay bills or to follow my path, Spend none unless it will make you more money.
Follow my twitter: @SaveTheCents
Also be sure to check out my about me section to learn more about myself!
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