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THE WINNERS OF LAST WEEK'S GIVEAWAY!!!!

LORA (AKA Mom, or Mama Cook)!
You can read her wonderful blog and stay tuned with her giveaways too!

The next winner was theoretically my sweet and supportive husband, Brandan...however, I didn't buy these files to use them myself! So the next winner goes to Sage! Thank you for the comments and shares everyone!!!

Thank you to all who participated, the rules were stringent this time! If you didn't win this giveaway, don't worry, there will be more!

A Penny For Your Thoughts? (Part 5)

Fieldworks, Seattle Consumer Opinion, NorthWest Insights and Microsoft Usability

(Physical Seattle Area Locations)

These companies are along the same lines as American Consumer Opinion, however, they ask you to complete studies and be a part of research groups at a physical location. While American Consumer Opinion is available to anyone with internet access, these three companies have offices where you meet at to participate in the study, therefore, I am unsure what companies offer similar services in other states.

Fieldworks has a facebook page, which is the easiest way to join. Join here for Facebook, or directly to their signup form. About once a month, I receive a call to answer prescreening questions for the next surveys coming up, and if I qualify, they schedule an appointment with me, either individually, but usually with a larger group present as well. For a two hour study session, I have received anywhere from $60 to $200, as it depends on what company is conducting the research, and how much they have decided to compensate for that research.

Consumer Opinion’s website is www.cosvc.com, and they boast service to Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Boise, Chicago, and Salt Lake City. Their research is along the same lines as Fieldworks, and runs in exactly the same manner. Although, I have found that they do not call me as often to participate in studies. To be entered into their database, go to their website and find the phone number that corresponds to your area, call it and ask to be added to their database!

NorthWest Insights is another firm that tests products, much like Fieldworks. They used to go by the name Gilmore Research, but now reside at the website http://nwinsights.com and you can sign up by going to the “Participate” tab, clicking on “Join Database,” then filling out the signup form (allott 10 minutes or so for this one, it’s a doozy) as a Consumer.

 

Microsoft Usability refers specifically to Microsoft products, and I believe you can still enroll if you are not a Washington State resident! I have seen compensation for studies done in their “studios” as Microsoft products, which you can then turn around and sell on craigslist if you don’t want to use it yourself. Their website is www.microsoft.com/usability, which is fairly easy to enroll in as well, but another long entry form, so allot some time for it!

Now you are well on your way to earning those extra dollars with the wonderful advent of research groups!

A Penny For Your Thoughts? (Part 4)

Donate Plasma!

In Washington there are centers where you can get paid to donate plasma from your blood! Biomat is the most common company, and there are many locations. I am not sure about the availability of this opportunity in other states, and I cannot guarantee any rates because each city has a different demand for plasma. A simple websearch for plasma donation center should steer you in the right direction.

This is the place I went to for plasma donation: http://www.biomatusa.grifols.com

The deal here is that you go twice a week for about an hour, usually they have you schedule an appointment time in advance to make sure they can handle the volumes, and you complete their questionnaire confirming your eligibility. You do have to see a nurse who pricks your finger and makes sure you have enough iron before you start. 

Then, you sit in a chair while blood gets pumped out of your arm and separated in a machine, returning your red blood cells while keeping your plasma. After that, you get a bit of saline to help kick start the replenishing process. 

While all of this is going on, you can read a book, surf the web on your laptop, talk on the phone, or whatever! (You just can’t sleep...for safety reasons) Plasma is a fluid a healthy body can easily reproduce, and is not as taxing to do so as replenishing one’s blood supply.

However, the rules are pretty much the same as if you are donating blood and you cannot donate if:

• You’re pregnant
• Received a tattoo recently
• Been in jail for more than 72 hours at one time
• Carry an STD
• Are anemic, or have another blood disorder

I have been paid $20 for the first visit in one week and $30 for the second (they understand it’s difficult to get people in multiple times in a week, but demand was still high, so they were able to compensate more for it!). That means $50 each week, or $200 in a month! As a college kid, that was my food budget and gas money!

Plus if you have antibodies for particular diseases, they will pay you more...I do not, but still got a hefty "paycheck" for donating!

A Penny For Your Thoughts? (Part 3)

American Consumer Opinion!

Literally money to complete questionnaires!

Their website is www.acop.com, or they also have a facebook page you can link from. It’s a survey site, and about half of the time you just get entered into a monthly drawing for completing a short survey, but the other half of the time you are paid $3-5 per survey, and I have also earned $25 for completing a product research study. So over a 3-month span I earned about $40 for doing surveys, and when I racked up a sizable amount in my account, I just requested a cashout of the balance. It took very little time, and bought some pretty wrapping paper and ribbon for gifts!

They have recently set up a new point-based system, so that you earn 15 points to complete the screening questionnaire and 300-500 for the follow-up survey, that way there is an incentive for completing the short screening questions, and you don’t feel like it was a waste of time if you don’t end up qualifying for the actual survey. Each point is worth one cent, so it is still equivalent to the 3-5 dollar range for completing the surveys, but now you also earn a negligible amount even if you don’t qualify...and it all adds up!

My only tip with this site is that you take the time to complete the surveys that don’t give you a direct cash compensation, because they are gathering information with these general surveys to send you more surveys you qualify to answer!

A Penny For Your Thoughts? (Part 2)

Ebay!

There is money to be had from your used stuff! From experience, I have found that people will pay a buck or two for things you would otherwise give to your local thrift store.

Step One: Find as many items as you can to sell online. My rule of thumb is If it hasn’t been used in two years, and it’s not reserved for future children, SELL IT!

Step Two: Take pictures of everything! If it’s damaged in any way, take photos of the damage! The more info you have on your item, the more likely it is to sell, and a picture is worth a thousand words.

Sets are great for Ebay!

Step Three: List your items! A few pointers though--list each item separately ending on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Start your bid at the lowest price you are willing to accept, 0.99 is a great price, but if you know your item is a collectible or a higher value, start the bidding higher! Most auction-style listings won’t be charged for if you list them under a buck, but the attention to an item priced so low will surely bump its final sale value far beyond its starting price. Also, in your title, spell out exactly what you are selling, including brand name (even if it’s not high end), size, pattern, and add a few common names for the item (for example, a nail clipper should also include the words “file, scissors, pedicure manicure tool, pedi, mani,” or whatever else you can fit on the line--the more hits the better!) And one last thing, NEVER OFFER FREE SHIPPING! (Unless you are an experienced ebayer, and I confess I still am not!) The amount it will cost you to ship your item will put a huge dent in your earnings, and people will still bid on it with a reasonable shipping cost.

Completed StarWars Puzzle, box included, originally a Thrift Store find!

I made $11 once from selling an MSI t-shirt my husband didn’t wear anymore, and $15 on a StarWars puzzle we completed together, but knew we weren’t going to piece it together again. Puzzles are actually perfect for Ebay, since you can pick them up virtually anywhere, even a thrift store, and once you’ve completed it, you can take a picture of the puzzle, completed to prove it has all of its pieces and use that as your selling point. We originally purchased the puzzle for $5 at Goodwill, and listed it for the usual 99 cents, but its popularity turned a profit! It doesn’t always happen that way, but it’s worth a try before you throw things out!

...Because the First Step to Makin' Money is Savin' Money!

     Maybe you have a store nearby where you can pick up one of these wonderful "Envelope" organizers, maybe you can afford one already...orrrrrrr maybe you don't, and maybe you can't afford it! I couldn't afford the envelope system for the longest time, so I used a whole stack of regular envelopes (you know, the paper kind that you actually stick letters into?!). They would get beat up, so I'd have to replace them monthly, but they worked and helped me keep my money in my hands instead of spent somewhere in the 'verse! I even bought one of those fancy-shmancy, Dave Ramsey, leather exterior Envelope Systems, but the paper interior fell apart in roughly the same amount of time, plus he wanted you to track all of your purchases, and I just didn't need to, but felt obligated, so then I wouldn't use it. Finally, I got rid of that thing (it's a good thing when you need it though!) and eventually came around to the expandable file in the Target dollar section, and that's what our family has stuck to for 3 years.

They even come with little stickers you can write on to label your tabs!

Every season, Target gets in new colors, and this summer is a sunny shade of yellow!

   
     I know, you've heard it already! But I'm saying it again because it's one of the most important parts of your budgeting! And if you can't afford it, fear not! Today is WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY, as I am giving away 2 sets of expandable file organizers!!!

     Each set of Envelope Systems comes with two, because I betcha' can't have just one! Inevitably there are too many categories for just one! To be entered into the giveaway, all you have to do is share this post, or a previous post on Facebook! Multiple shares means multiple entries!! Next Wednesday I will draw two names and contact the individuals for safe delivery of their new envelope systems! That means you can share every post until Next Wednesday!!! Please comment here after sharing, so I can enter you to win, as I am only able to track shares from friends already on Facebook!

Share to win a set of these lovelies!

     And don't worry, if you don't win, the humble solution if you can't afford the expandable file is to use those regular paper envelopes. If I can make it with those, so can you! Keep your chin up, it gets better!

A Penny For Your Thoughts? (Part 1)

This week, I would like to address the plethora of money-making ideas out there, please feel free to share your tips and go-to's in the comments below! I would love to brainstorm before we dive in!

Now that we have our budget in place, most of us will see that we just don’t have enough. Remember, THIS IS A MATH PROBLEM, AND DOES NOT REFLECT YOUR EFFORTS!! My mama taught me this concept; she is just full of refreshing wisdom and you can share in it by visiting her blog: mamacookscottage@blogspot.com (two heads are better than one when it comes to money saving tips!) I recall when I was little, she would sit down to budget out the month, and things were tight, but in big letters across the front of her bill file always read “It’s a MATH problem!” All too often we blame ourselves for the situation we are in, and sometimes true self-inspection can solve money issues, but other times, the ends really don’t meet. It’s at those times when you are not doing yourself or your family any good by fretting, and frankly stressing over it is actually detrimental to all involved.

How do we remedy this problem? The answer is simple; earn more money. I know, duh. But I’m not talking another job, rather a whole bunch of ways to scrounge up little bits of cash. Some of your options don’t even require leaving your home, but not in the same way you find “work from home” gimmicks. Are you ready to roll up your sleeves?!

Until tomorrow, are there any questions or dilemmas with your budget layout?

These are those categories I was talking about in the $1 expandable files!

In this file you will see "Food" and for my 4 person family, that looks like $300 a month, but just a year ago that figure was $200 a month! Figure out what you can live on, then adjust the extras to where you deem they are important! We personally enjoy food and friends more than clothes...

I carry the both of these around in my purse, and pay out of the categories as needed. I do not feel it is necessary to write down where I spend all of the cash in them, as Dave Ramsey has you do, because I do not need to locate money spending problems. You know yourself, and if you need to keep track, DO IT!

Cheers to Fancy and Frugal!

BLAST OFF! (Warning, intense post)

You’ve been prepped for the journey, now it’s time to launch into the DIY Income with Autumn Evelyn, and first thing’s first; YOUR BUDGET!!

I know, it’s scary to look at all those numbers, sitting on a page, always screaming that it’s just not enough, but now it’s time to put in your ear plugs and ignore the screams, roll up your sleeves and dive in! Things may get ugly, but in the end it is SO worth it!! And we surely can’t make a Do-It-Yourself income out of nothing. So in order to make the most of what we have, we had better hop to it!

The way I organized our family’s budget with my husband started with a pad of paper, a list of all our bills, and a trip online to www.daveramsey.com! Yes, he has a store attached to his website, but you don’t need to buy anything! Mouse over the “Tools” tab on his webpage (not the store page!) and you will find a tutorial on how to get out of debt (TRUST ME, IT WORKS!) annnnnd, free downloadable budget sheets for all different types of income. There is also a free online budget tool! Use these! Dave Ramsey’s goal as a financial advisor is to teach people how to make 1 million dollars (to retire on) while being able to achieve their personal goals of saving for their children’s college, or buying a new car. But REMEMBER, both with Dave Ramsey’s system, along with my own DIY mentality, sometimes that means you can’t have what you want now, you have to be patient and wait until later...or come up with an alternative that’s a compromise!

 

This is the "Executive" version of the envelope system sold by Dave Ramsey on www.Target.com for $17.

With the base of my system stemming from Dave Ramsey, you should now be familiar with the style. If you didn’t visit his site for at least a quick look before you sat down to hash out your budget, what I am referring to is the Envelope System! The Envelope System is a set of envelopes that contain the cash needed for monthly expenditures that are not set bills you can pay online. So this does not include utilities, car payments, other debts, or doctor bills, although you should have taken your budget, pulled all of those things out, and are now divvying up what’s left. The envelopes take this “free” spending money and tie it down. You should have an envelope for weekly gas, pet necessities, your personal spending money, monthly food budget, gifts, and anything else you spend money on!

So let’s do this step by step, shall we?

Let’s start generally and work our way down to the finer details. It is easiest if you have an excel sheet handy where you can punch in your numbers (or take the ones you ended up with on Dave’s site and fill them in), and add lines, or change totals as you go.

Think of everything you regularly spend money on. In our house the categories go a little something like this:

CATEGORY

• Food
• Pets    
• Car Maintenance    
• Baby    
• Gas  
• Husband’s Clothing  
• Wife’s Clothing  
• Husband’s Spending  
• Wife’s Spending  
• Gifts  
• Joint

Now before you get excited over the “Joint” Category, let me explain that this is extra money that my husband and I jointly have rights to, and is used for extra activities, such as dates, trips to the pumpkin patch or zoo as a family, or games. Really it’s allotted for any activity we would do together or with our children!

I expect that your house will have similar categories, it just depends on how you want to break down your spending habits. However, you MUST allow yourself some spending money. Dave Ramsey calls this “blow money” and if you don’t plan ahead for it, you will blow more than you can truly afford, and land yourself in heaps of trouble! Let me also say that whatever does not get spent from the envelope of a specific category will still stay in that specific category. So, at times we do not use all of our gas money, but the excess will remain in the envelope for emergencies, or weeks where there is extra driving, or even saved for a road trip down to visit the in-laws (if “Joint” is unable to afford the gas expense).

Now, the last thing to do is break everything down to it’s most minute form. Dave wants you to allot for everything, but I want you to allot for EVERYTHING!! What I mean is, when he says Gift Fund, I say: Write Down Every Birthday, Person You will Buy a Gift For Christmas (Including 40 Dollars Extra For Those Unexpected People), Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Anniversary, Valentine’s Day, Children’s Friends’ Birthdays, Your Adult Friends’ Birthdays, Halloween Candy, Christmas Cards, Gift Wrap and Supplies, Birthday Invitations, and Actual Birthday Party FUND! After you have written EVERYTHING down, figure out how much you would REASONABLY spend per occasion. I spend 20 dollars per birthday. 20 dollars may be too much for your financial situation, maybe 5 is all you can afford (we did not start out at 20, as our lowering debt has freed our money, we have decided that gifts are something important that we want to spend more on). Keep in mind though, this has to cover the shipping expense if it’s for anyone out of town. Sometimes, I want to spend more than 20 dollars on a person’s gift, or I forgot to account for shipping. To make up the difference I use my own spending money, or the Joint envelope if it’s for a mutual friend and my husband agrees. Finally, tally up the total, and divide that by 52 (weeks in a year), which leaves you with the amount per week to stash in your envelope.

Birthday Date Allotted Fund 2013 Spent Fund Left Over Notes   Brandan V-day 20.00 20.00     -   Tristen V-day 20.00 20.00     -    includes bday gift wrap Brandan Anniversary 5/1/2011 30.00   Tristen Anniversary 5/1/2011 30.00  30.00     -   Grandparents Day 40.00 40.00     -   Holiday Cards  40.00   Birthday Par-tays (Kaylee and river) 200.00   Friends Birthdays 60.00 54.00 6.00

This is a little snapshot of things you should allot for! I have separate excel pages for all of the categories for easy locating!

While you are entering each individual occasion into your list, now would be a prime opportunity to add the date it will occur, and a spot for how much you actually spent on that person. If you are doing this in Excel or Google Documents (A FREE version of Excel), which I highly recommend as it allows for multiple users (ie you and your spouse) to come back at later times and change or update the sheets, put the column totals at the bottom. Then it will be easy to keep current with your spending, and hopefully with your DIY tools, you can cut costs on things like invitations and gifts, and carry over any unused portion to another occasion where you might need it more. For instance, I was given a heap of retired Army gear, which I boxed up and gifted to my kid brother, who had no idea the stuff was free for me and was completely elated to receive it! I used the 20 dollars I saved on his gift and put it towards stamps for my Christmas Cards, making it possible to send out twice as many as I did last year!

I know this is a lot to chew on, but bear with me, we are almost done! I want you to break down each category, as specifically as you can, like we did with our Gift Fund. This is how you will come up with your weekly numbers, at a reasonable amount. I understand what it means to live tightly, but with the DIY Income, we can make the tightest of budgets reflect nothing of the sort! So Car should reflect all oil changes, wiper replacement, and a bit extra for new tires and unexpected emergencies. Pets should include the cost of food, litter, toys, and medications. Baby is the fund for doctor visits, medications, and accessories. The other categories, like clothes, spending, and joint, should be a little more variable than the set costs of owning a pet, or driving to work, and can each be a percentage of whatever money is left over, depending on how important each one is to you.

Feel free to ditch my categories and make up your own! Just make sure you you account for EVERYTHING!!

And one last tip: For a cheaper version of the Envelope System sold by Dave Ramsey, use actual envelopes and either paper clip them together, or store them all in one area. For a sturdier alternative, buy a couple of $1 expandable, accordion pocketbook size files, available at Target! A friend of mine found a $3 version at Target that comes with a notepad, so you can make lists or track your expenses if you feel you need to locate where all your money is being spent!

These are the $4.40 version available online that are even more heavy duty that what I purchased! But, my find in the dollar section has held up for 3 years now, so you be the judge of how hefty you need!

Cheers to fancy and frugal!

Disclaimer: I do not guarantee the results of the Dave Ramsey system, nor the price or availability of said accordion files at Target. I am merely sharing what has worked for me.