Money Tips Network
Debt reduction when you’re upside-down
Debt shackles you to the people you owe. Debt reduction removes those shackles and frees up your cash flow.
What does being upside-down on a loan mean?
Being upside-down on a loan means that you owe more on your asset than it's worth. This means that even if you sell the asset that you owe against — like a car, a boat, or a house — you will still have a debt that you need to repay. This means you're paying money for the use of nothing.
If someone takes out a new car loan with only a small down payment, it's almost guaranteed that the person will be upside-down on their car loan from the beginning.
It's possible to become upside-down on loans in other ways, though. If the asset price decreases, as in a housing slump, the value might dip below what's owed on the asset. This happens more readily if the asset was secured with a low, or no, down-payment.
Personal Cash Flow and Getting Bills Paid On Time
Newsflash: Paying your bills on time keeps things happy and running smoothly.
OK, maybe it's not a newsflash. You likely understand this and have heard it many times already.
But like most routine adult activities, the right system makes it much easier.
My grandfather's bill-paying activities
My grandfather was an extremely frugal person. He was a teenager at the start of the Great Depression, so this was no shock to anyone.
One frugal habit of his I remember growing up in the 1980s was that he used to walk downtown to pay his bills in full, by check, on the day they were due.
Doing this accomplished several things:
December (and 2024!) Side Hustle Income Report
This is the wrap-up of twelve months of reporting side hustle income!
I did this all of 2024 to maintain accountability and to document lessons learned.
I'll provide my final monthly numbers as well as a summary for all of 2024, and reflect on what it all means. I'll also chat briefly about how things will change for 2025!
Links to the other eleven months are at the end.
Google AdSense income: $8.68 – 2024 total $167.00
Google AdSense income has been there for most of my blogging run. Even though it's been way higher than it is now, with the blog just mostly sitting there, people continue to visit and interact with the ads.
Temporary flagging issue with EarnApp
A few days ago, YouTube removed a video I had created for linking to a site that was “harmful and dangerous.”
This puzzled me but I took the training and told myself I wouldn't put the video up again for a bit.
In a separate action, I visited EarnApp, a site I had been using to some profit, and also recommending to you all.
As of no later than 29 December 2024, Google is flagging EarnApp as dangerous. As I post this, it's still being flagged.
EarnApp is aware of the issue. This is an announcement from their Discord server:
12/29/2024: We are aware that our website is currently being flagged as “Dangerous”. We are working with Google to solve the flag. Rest assured, our website is completely safe. You can safely choose to proceed to the site. Cheers!
And another:
Side Hustle Income November 2024
For 2024 I'm publishing side income reports each month to maintain accountability.
My goal is to progress by keeping it transparent and real. Reporting on the good and the bad lets me reflect on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
I'm not posting anonymously so my main job income, my part-time job income, and my main investments won't be reported. I'll report everything else, though!
Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others as I earn it. I'm moving toward
Also, for the moment I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall and will be for some time.
With that, let's get going!
Google AdSense income: $10.63
October saw a modest uptick in Google AdSense income.
I cut the number of ads showing on the page in June. I turned off Auto Ads on my main blog because the ads dominated the site rather than the content.
How I’m Handling Wedding Invitations for the Price of a Cup of Coffee
(Just a bit of know-how is all it takes)
My daughter is getting married in three weeks. He proposed last night.
(It's complicated, but not “shotgun”-complicated, for what it's worth.)
As such, we have to get the word out quickly to the important people, now that it's official.
We could do evite, but it's expensive
My wife, who loves planning these kinds of things, actually steered me away from evite.com, even though it would work.
The premium package is nice, but it comes in at $1.50 per invite. Given the circumstances, that's more than she wanted to spend.
I came up with a solution that ended up using a lot of what I already pay for, and only cost an additional $3.66, total.
How I’m Handling Wedding Invitations for the Price of a Cup of Coffee
(Just a bit of know-how is all it takes)
My daughter is getting married in three weeks. He proposed last night.
(It's complicated, but not “shotgun”-complicated, for what it's worth.)
As such, we have to get the word out quickly to the important people, now that it's official.
We could do evite, but it's expensive
My wife, who loves planning these kinds of things, actually steered me away from evite.com, even though it would work.
The premium package is nice, but it comes in at $1.50 per invite. Given the circumstances, that's more than she wanted to spend.
I came up with a solution that ended up using a lot of what I already pay for, and only cost an additional $3.66, total.
Side Hustle Income October 2024
Freelance income to the rescue
For 2024 I'm publishing side income reports each month to maintain accountability.
My goal is to progress by keeping it transparent and real. Reporting on the good and the bad lets me reflect on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
I'm not posting anonymously so my main job income, my part-time job income, and my main investments won't be reported. I'll report everything else, though!
Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others as I earn it. I'm moving toward
Also, for the moment I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall and will be for some time.
With that, let's get going!
Google AdSense income: $10.50 (-$1.68)
October saw a modest downtick in Google AdSense income.
Side Hustle Income October 2024
Freelance income to the rescue
For 2024 I'm publishing side income reports each month to maintain accountability.
My goal is to progress by keeping it transparent and real. Reporting on the good and the bad lets me reflect on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
I'm not posting anonymously so my main job income, my part-time job income, and my main investments won't be reported. I'll report everything else, though!
Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others as I earn it. I'm moving toward
Also, for the moment I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall and will be for some time.
With that, let's get going!
Google AdSense income: $10.50 (-$1.68)
October saw a modest downtick in Google AdSense income.
Two Resources To Make Signing a Client as Easy as 1-2-3
It's all in the contract!
Recently I found myself saying yes to freelance work. The tension between getting paid now and possibly getting paid later tipped toward getting paid now.
I began chatting with a poker pro I met online, and checked out his Kick channel. I wrote up an article on how he could build his Kick channel, and that led to discussions on creating and managing a website for him.
Around a week ago, he was ready to pull the trigger, and he wanted to have a contract for the work. He didn't really say why, but it's a completely reasonable thing to do.
That put the ball in my court to produce a contract and figure out how to get us both to sign it, because he's not local to me.
These two services greased the skids for getting things in writing.
Two Resources To Make Signing a Client as Easy as 1-2-3
It's all in the contract!
Recently I found myself saying yes to freelance work. The tension between getting paid now and possibly getting paid later tipped toward getting paid now.
I began chatting with a poker pro I met online, and checked out his Kick channel. I wrote up an article on how he could build his Kick channel, and that led to discussions on creating and managing a website for him.
Around a week ago, he was ready to pull the trigger, and he wanted to have a contract for the work. He didn't really say why, but it's a completely reasonable thing to do.
That put the ball in my court to produce a contract and figure out how to get us both to sign it, because he's not local to me.
These two services greased the skids for getting things in writing.
Goodwill finds that slipped through my fingers
It's every thrifter's dream to find a $100k Italian vase for $4 at their local Goodwill.
Those deals are rare, of course. Much of the really good merchandise donated doesn't ever make it to the sales floor. Those pieces are sent to a warehouse for auction.
Goodwill scores are often a lot of singles
Even if the home runs that make the national news are rare, some smaller bloop-single deals turn up pretty regularly. The best one I got was a box of Ikea light bulbs. It was marked $10 and I sold it for nearly $100 on eBay.
That was some time ago, though, and it does seem to be harder to find these kinds of deals, mainly because the pricing is closer to retail than it used to be.
Goodwill finds that slipped through my fingers
It's every thrifter's dream to find a $100k Italian vase for $4 at their local Goodwill.
Those deals are rare, of course. Much of the really good merchandise donated doesn't ever make it to the sales floor. Those pieces are sent to a warehouse for auction.
Goodwill scores are often a lot of singles
Even if the home runs that make the national news are rare, some smaller bloop-single deals turn up pretty regularly. The best one I got was a box of Ikea light bulbs. It was marked $10 and I sold it for nearly $100 on eBay.
That was some time ago, though, and it does seem to be harder to find these kinds of deals, mainly because the pricing is closer to retail than it used to be.
Side Hustle Income September 2024
For 2024 I'm publishing side income reports each month to maintain accountability.
My goal is to progress by keeping it transparent and real. Reporting on the good and the bad lets me reflect on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
I'm not posting anonymously so my main job income, my part-time job income, and my main investments won't be reported. I'll report everything else, though!
Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others as I earn it. I'm moving toward
Also, for the moment I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall and will be for some time.
With that, let's get going!
Google AdSense income: $12.18 (+$1.69)
September saw a modest uptick in Google AdSense income. This was after I reduced the number of ads showing on the page in June. I turned off Auto Ads on my main blog because the ads dominated the site and overran the content.
Side Hustle Income September 2024
For 2024 I'm publishing side income reports each month to maintain accountability.
My goal is to progress by keeping it transparent and real. Reporting on the good and the bad lets me reflect on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
I'm not posting anonymously so my main job income, my part-time job income, and my main investments won't be reported. I'll report everything else, though!
Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others as I earn it. I'm moving toward
Also, for the moment I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall and will be for some time.
With that, let's get going!
Google AdSense income: $12.18 (+$1.69)
September saw a modest uptick in Google AdSense income. This was after I reduced the number of ads showing on the page in June. I turned off Auto Ads on my main blog because the ads dominated the site and overran the content.
Fifteen easy ways to save fifteen bucks
(This post was originally published on August 15, 2006, and has been updated, because a lot can change in eighteen years.)
Fifteen dollars wasn't that much in 2006, and it's even less now.
Regardless, we can get richer or poorer a few dollars at a time.
It's not that difficult to make a couple of minor adjustments in spending. If you apply just half of these tips each month, that's over $100/month that you can apply to whatever you value! Things like debt reduction, emergency savings, investing, retirement, or (gasp!) fun.
Go through the list and consider first trying those tips that won't be hard to change.
1. If you're a coffee drinker, consider brewing your own
Starbucks coffee is now north of $3/cup. One a day is $15 per workweek.
Now, before I get hate mail, I completely get that Starbucks or other coffee on the go is a non-negotiable for many people, but if it's not, then consider brewing your own.
Fifteen easy ways to save fifteen bucks
(This post was originally published on August 15, 2006, and has been updated, because a lot can change in eighteen years.)
Fifteen dollars wasn't that much in 2006, and it's even less now.
Regardless, we can get richer or poorer a few dollars at a time.
It's not that difficult to make a couple of minor adjustments in spending. If you apply just half of these tips each month, that's over $100/month that you can apply to whatever you value! Things like debt reduction, emergency savings, investing, retirement, or (gasp!) fun.
Go through the list and consider first trying those tips that won't be hard to change.
1. If you're a coffee drinker, consider brewing your own
Starbucks coffee is now north of $3/cup. One a day is $15 per workweek.
Now, before I get hate mail, I completely get that Starbucks or other coffee on the go is a non-negotiable for many people, but if it's not, then consider brewing your own.
Choose your credit card rebates wisely
(This post was published originally on August 26, 2005, and has been updated.)
Banks compete for your credit card business. Consumer debt is very lucrative for them.
As such, there are bonuses, perks, and rebates that they'll throw at you to get their card in your wallet or purse.
But first some words to the wise
Like all other financial information on this site, this is not to be construed as financial advice. That's what professionals are for.
Credit cards are tools, but like most tools, if used incorrectly they can harm you.
Any credit card rebates you get will be paltry compared to the default rate of interest if you miss a payment.
The techniques in this post will do you absolutely no good if you carry a balance on your card.
Choose your credit card rebates wisely
(This post was published originally on August 26, 2005, and has been updated.)
Banks compete for your credit card business. Consumer debt is very lucrative for them.
As such, there are bonuses, perks, and rebates that they'll throw at you to get their card in your wallet or purse.
But first some words to the wise
Like all other financial information on this site, this is not to be construed as financial advice. That's what professionals are for.
Credit cards are tools, but like most tools, if used incorrectly they can harm you.
Any credit card rebates you get will be paltry compared to the default rate of interest if you miss a payment.
The techniques in this post will do you absolutely no good if you carry a balance on your card.
Get Financial Education from Your Credit Union
(This post was originally written January 3, 2010, and has been updated.)
I moved down to Virginia in 2000 for my job, and one of my first stops was at a credit union to get a local savings and checking account.
I'm still with the same credit union after nearly a quarter century, and though some things have changed, some haven't.
The credit union offered financial education
I've always been a bit of a sucker for freebies, especially information pamphlets.
One time when I was cleaning off my desk I found a little pamphlet entitled “Teach Children About Money.” It really was little — a single tri-fold piece of paper that's smaller than a standard sheet of paper — but there was quite a bit of information in there.
Then I found a “statement stuffer” with the title “Back in the Black: Tools to Keep Your Checkbook on Track.”
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