Earning Money on Fiverr

Fiverr is a website where people can buy and sell tasks (‘gigs’) for $5. To learn more about Fiverr, I  recommend reading this entertaining review by The Wall Street Journal since it gives a pretty good description of the site.

I recently signed up for Fiverr in my humble attempts to earn some extra money, and I absolutely love the site and the site’s concept. I’m offering 2 gigs there - and just recently I got my first buyer.  Being a total newbie however I totally overshot on my gig, meaning that I offered to do something for $5 ($4 actually, because the site takes a percentage) that took me 7 (yes, you heard me, 7!#"?!) days to do. Well, in all fairness it was 7 evenings and not full-days, but still, that must’ve been the worst paying job I’ve ever done, lol :)

So I think I’m going to have to edit my gigs and offer a bit less for my $4. Because the amount of time it took me to complete that one gig was ridiculous. I’ve learnt my lesson. There’s an amount of work I’m willing to do for peanuts, and this went well beyond that. I felt like I could’ve spent that time waaaay better. But just to clarify things, it really isn’t the website’s fault at all, it’s completely my own fault because I was the one who made the offer and set the rules. I’ve become wiser since then and will change my gigs so that it reflects more realistically what I’m willing to do for $4.

 

But still, I’m happy for the money earned. :)

My Ex-Boyfriend’s Toothbrush Laying Around – Throw It Away Or Re-Use It? (Hahaha, yes, I’m that frugal)

So yesterday I found my ex-boyfriend’s toothbrush laying around in the cabinet in my bathroom. My first inclination was naturally to throw it away, since I didn’t want it lying around my apartment reminding me of him. However, then I realized that, hey, maybe I could keep this as a spare and use it myself when I need a new toothbrush. Then I would save money. Because I know that it was brand-new when he brought it over. So it’s still got some mileage in it. Hahaha :)

What do you think? :) Am I being too frugal on this one? :)

It’s Time To Read My Electric Meter Again

Well, it’s that time of the year again. The time to read my electric meter and send in the results to the electricity company.

I always feel like I’ve used too much. But in actuality, I use well below the average amount of electricity that a household my size (1 person, 50m²) uses during one year. (If you’re wondering how I know this, then it’s because my electric company has charts and graphs on their webpage that the costumer can compare one’s electricity usage with. I’m a blend between a geek and a frugalista in that I actually spend a good amount of time comparing myself to those charts and graphs of average electricity usage. Geez, I should really get off the internet more :p ) 

I also think I used a bit less electricity this last year (2010) compared to the year before (2009) because this past year I’ve had a 9-5 job, so I’m only home in the evenings, whilst in 2009 I was home ALL THE TIME - 24 HOURS A DAY because I was writing my university thesis. So obviously, I would have had to have used less electricity this last year (2010) because I’m simply out of the apartment 8 HOURS A DAY. There’s got to be a cut in the electricity bill there.

But you never know, the price of electricity has increased during this past year (it does so every year at the moment!), so what I’ve saved in actual electricity usage, will probably be eaten up by the price increase. We’ll see. You’ll probably hear all about it because I’ll most likely be publishing a post about my electricity bill, when it arrives.

But here’s hoping that it’s a little less than last year. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. :)

LOVE WHAT YOU DO

I saw this over at at Money Management Made Easy and since it totally encompasses my view on work and loving one’s work I decided to share it here. Enjoy!

When your vocation becomes your vacation,
you'll never work another day in your life.

No one can succeed in any endeavor that they don't like.
If you don't love what you're doing, then don't do it.

Your chances of success are directly proportional
to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do.

Do something that you have a deep personal interest in.
Do something you'd enjoy spending twelve to fifteen hours a day
working at, and the rest of the time thinking about.

Don't set compensation as your goal.
Find work you like and the compensation will follow.

Work is not your punishment.
It's your reward, your strength and your pleasure.

Real success is achieved when you like what you do.
Work is love made visible.

I love this saying! :) However, I don’t quite agree with the line “If you don't love what you're doing, then don't do it” because obviously, most of us need to eat. ;) And sometimes we don’t have a choice as to as whether we get to do our dream job or not (right away), but we should at least strive for it. Apart from that line, I absolutely love this mantra! It embodies my whole view of work.

While others are talking about the “4-Hour Work Week” and the whole “Work Smarter Not Harder” thing, then here I am a little workaholic advocating the “Do What You Love, And Love What You Do, And You’ll Never Work A Day In Your Life” point of view. Heck, if I didn’t believe this view of work, then I would’ve chosen a different professional industry to work in. ;)

Blog Reboot: The Money Blog Revisited – A New Direction

As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post named RE-BRANDING: Transitioning Your Blog When You’ve Come To A Different Place In Your Life, my blog is going through a period of change – mainly, because I myself am going through a period of change. SO the previous post addressed the whole issue of the blog going through a transitioning. Now is the time for the actual blog REBOOT.

 

Photo credit: changing lanes

THE CHANGE OF DIRECTION FROM SAVING TO EARNING

This is going to be the biggest change to the blog, as I have now shifted my focus in my real life from saving money to earning money. As you can see from the URL of this blog, my focus was savings. I began this blog in college/university and so the main focus back then was to save, save, save so that I could have as little a loan (student loan and family loan) as possible. But now that I’m out and in the work force, this is the time to start earning and to start paying back my loans.

So EARNING more has become extremely important to me in my real life, and you’ll therefore see me blogging about job applications and the like, because I’m dead set on finding a higher-paying job at the moment, and hence EARNING more. My mental focus shift from saving to earning will reflect now in this blog also. I will naturally still focus on saving, but you will definitely see a shift in weight towards blog posts about earning. That’s going to be the new order of business around here.

10 Tips On How To Organize Your Job Hunting

When sending out job applications a systematic approach to job search helps. These are tips that I personally use to optimize and organize the process.

Here are 10 tips on how to organize your job hunting:

1. Set a goal for a specific number of job applications each week (i.e. 2 job applications per week).

2. Schedule a specific time (i.e. Sunday evening at 6 p.m.) for writing and sending out job applications.

3. Have stamps and envelopes in a drawer ready to use.

4. Use a binder to organize your job applications.

5. Print out a copy of the job application (and put in binder – Section A).

6. Print out a copy of the job listing (and put in binder – Section B).

7. Print out a copy of the reply (and put in binder – Section C).

8. Use a calendar to keep track of job interviews.

9. Keep track of sent job applications in an Excel-file (and use it as a “Table Of Contents” for your binder, if you wish).

10. Review your progress weekly and monthly.

 

Extra tips:

1. Use an online calendar (i.e. Google Calendar) or you the mobile phone’s calendar to keep track of job interviews.

2. Use a secure autofill form to quickly and easily fill out electronic recruitment forms.

3. Use a free PDF-writer (i.e. CutePDF or DoPDF) to professionally convert your job applications, resumes, etc. to PDF files in order to easily attach to e-mails or electronic recruitment forms - for free.

4. Organize your job applications by having a specific folder on your computer named “Job Applications” with subfolders, and do the same in your e-mail.

Silk Spectre II v.s. Tomb Raider

Ok, if these 2 hardcore action ladies where to meet in a dark alley somewhere and thug it out, it would be interesting to see who’d win. I definitely know who I think would win the fight, how about you? ;)

 

    V.S.

But in actuality this post is about something rather different, because I’m actually debating with myself which one of these 2 gorgeous kick-ass heroines to dress up as for a friend’s costume party on January 29.

I’ve searched high and low for all sorts of Silk Spectre II and Tomb Raider costumes on the internetz, and I’ve also looked through a couple of do-it-yourself videos. The thing is – as it always is –  is money and the price of said costumes.

I want to dress up for the costume party – but I don’t want to spend a sick amount of money on a costume that I might not use a second time. We don’t really celebrate Halloween here in Europe to the same degree as in the U.S., so chances are that that costume probably won’t get used again. So I’m still trying to figure out “money-wise” which costume to go with, and if it should be a rental or a home-made version of the same.

But there’s still some time before Jan. 29, so there’s a lot of time to think about this matter -  and plan it (money)wisely. I’ll definitely let you guys know, which one of the 2 cool hardboiled ladies I end up going as!!! :)

Movie Trailer And Poster: Sucker Punch

I’ve been a huge fan of Zack Snyder’s ever since “300” and I’m really looking forward to his next movie “Sucker Punch” coming out in movie theaters in 2011. You can watch the trailer here:

 

And for those of you who can’t wait for the movie, the posters are out already, so you can buy one (through Amazon) here: Sucker Punch Movie Group Emily Browning Poster Print - 22x34

I’ll see you guys at the theaters! :)

Buying A New Microwave

So my old microwave is breaking down *sniff* :( I’ve owned it for nearly 8 years, and it’s the first microwave I got when I moved out of my parents home and into my own place, which was a dorm room at the time. I’m a bit nostalgic about the old thing, and I know that I should let it go. It’s paid it’s service for 8 long, faithful years. Plus the protective sheathing on the front glass is starting to peel, so that can’t be too healthy...

So I’ve been looking on the internet on this online store of this shop that I know of, nearby where I live, and I found these 2 good candidates:

 

                Logik Microwave                                                        UPO Microwave

They’re both exactly $100, so it’s just about choosing the right one for me with most of the features that I need. They were unfortunately the cheapest ones. Had there been any ones that were cheaper, then I‘d have definitely have taken those. Ah, but I guess that’s the way things are.

But I’m going to have to go to the store to check these ones out in person. Then I can decide from there, and take the best one (for me, at least) home with me the same day.

Back to work tomorrow