Money Tips Network
Get Started Making Money Online with Almost No Work
No, really … a computer and a Paypal account are all you need
I've been making money online for over 20 years, and almost all of the hustles I've tried take effort and cost.
I've built websites, social media accounts, a YouTube channel, an email list, digital products, and more.
I've also signed up for apps that give you fractions of pennies for doing an endless supply of mind-numbing tasks. (Most of these I've since quit using.)
What I'm going to tell you about involves none of that.
No websites, no plugging on social media accounts, no building an email list.
And, probably most important of all, no mindless brain-rotting ad clicks.
Nothing.
Well, almost nothing. You'll need a computer, an internet connection, and a PayPal account.
But if you've got those, you're probably good for what I'll show you.
A Money-Saving Option That’s A Dying Breed
Find these deals while you still can
My main work computer was grinding to a slow death.
I'd put up with the lengthy reboots, the pegged disk activity, and the frozen screens long enough.
Last week I bought a new reasonably-priced desktop that should last me at least a few years.
Setting up the new computer
The setup process for Windows machines is polished, I must say. That was really easy.
What followed took a little more effort, and that was getting my files and software moved over.
Some parts of this were smooth, others took some emails to tech support to deactivate licenses on orphaned machines so that I could reinstall things.
Much of this software has either a subscription or a maintenance package associated with it. No subscription, no software.
Side Hustle Income August 2024
For 2024 I'm committed to publishing side income reports each month for 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 primary 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 when I earn it.
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: $10.49 (+$5.44)
August saw an uptick of nearly 100%. 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.
Adding Swagbucks Magic Receipts to my Receipt App Stack
It serves a couple of purposes
There are several apps that give you cash back for scanning your grocery receipts.
It turns out that you can stack receipt rewards by scanning the same receipt in all of the apps.
Swagbucks Magic Receipts is going on the stack
I don't do a lot of get-paid-to sites anymore, but I keep Swagbucks around because (a) it's one of the more lively ones and (b) I have some referral income continuing to come in from it.
One way to earn SB (their in-app currency that can be converted to gift cards) is by submitting receipts in their Magic Receipts service.
I can submit receipts either through the website on my desktop by uploading a picture of the receipt, or by snapping a picture and submitting it through the Swagbucks app.
YouTube Channel Mini-Game Update (7 of 10)
Still plugging away
A “mini-game” complements your main game by providing variety and a secondary focus.
My main goal is working on Medium Partner Program income, but I'm also working toward qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program with my channel.
My work on the channel gives me material to bring here, which works directly toward my primary goal.
Three videos uploaded since 8/11/2024
Since the last update, I've added two regular videos and one short. (A bit of an uptick from just two shorts over the previous month!)
Both of the regular videos are “treasure hunt” videos of fifty $1 bills. Instead of just staying silent for most of the time during these videos, I've come to talk on a topic.
The first one deals with whether to hunt for bills, or simply buy them:
The other is a response to a viewer comment asking about what I do with all of the $1s that have normal serial numbers:
Side Hustle Income July 2024
This year I'm committed to publishing my side income reports each month to stay accountable.
My goal is to move things forward by keeping it transparent and real. Reporting on both the good and the bad allows me to reflect on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
Since I'm not posting anonymously, my primary income, my part-time job income, and my main investments won't be reported. Everything else is on the table!
Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others when I earn it.
Also, for the moment I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall.
With that, let's go!
Google AdSense income: $5.25 (-$7.77)
This past month's downtick in AdSense income was expected. I reduced the number of ads showing on the page. I turned off Auto Ads on my main blog because the ads dominated the site and made it look a bit trashy.
YouTube Channel Mini-Game Update (6 of 10)
A “mini-game” complements your main game by providing variety and a secondary focus.
My main goal through August 2024 is to earn $100 through Medium in a single month.
I'm also working toward qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program with my channel.
My work on the channel gives me material to bring here, which works directly toward my primary goal.
I skipped a week, again. Got hit with food poisoning and I'm mostly recovered from that.
One video uploaded since 7/28/2024
Since the last update, I've added one short.
The short talked about bills called mixed ladders:
Continuing to support other YouTubers
I continue to get great comments from a few subscribers. New ones are showing up, which is great!
YouTube Channel Mini-Game Update (5 of 10)
Racking up points on my side quest
A “mini-game” helps you to stay on track with your main one by providing variety and a secondary focus.
My main goal through August 2024 is to earn $100 through Medium in a single month.
I'm also working toward monetizing my YouTube channel to complement this.
My work on the channel gives me material to bring here, which works directly toward my primary goal.
I missed last week. Our internet was out for a few days, but that wasn't really an excuse because I was able to hit up McDonald's for their internet. I realized just how at odds I am without connectivity. It was eye-opening.
Notwithstanding the above, I'm posting once a week, through the end of August.
Two videos uploaded since 7/15/2024
Since the last update, I've added one regular video and one short.
YouTube Channel Mini-Game Update (4 of 10)
Racking up points on my side quest
A “mini-game” for your main game (main goal) helps you to stay on track by providing variety and a secondary focus.
My main goal through August 2024 is to earn $100 through the Medium Partner Program in a single month.
To complement this, I'm also working toward monetizing my YouTube channel.
My work on the channel gives me material to bring here, which works directly toward my primary goal.
I'll post these once a week, through the end of August.
Two videos uploaded since 7/8/2024
Since the last update, I've added one regular video and one short.
As I've mentioned before, a big part of the hobby is to hunt through a stack of bills for gems. One video was a hunt through fifty $1 bills while I talked about places to sell bills:
There’s a digital product in my emails
Why I'm glad I'm a digital pack rat
Our manager sent out a reminder of some training today. Some new requirements coming soon.
Yeah, super dull workplace stuff.
One of my colleagues, though, was grateful for the reminder, because he had “round-filed” the original email mentioning the training.
I don't delete work emails.
That struck me as so foreign. I hardly delete any email, ever. Even the silly automatic notifications from wherever.
Why delete them? Electrons are cheap, and storage is cheap.
I'll occasionally delete obvious spam, but that's about it.
There's little downside to keeping everything I send or receive.
Same thing with my home emails.
I rarely delete any of those, either. I've lost some of them in computer crashes, but not on purpose.
I have an archive folder that goes back to 2009.
YouTube Channel Mini-Game Update (3 of 10)
Keeping score on my side quest
A “mini-game” for your main game (main goal) helps you to stay on track by providing variety and a secondary focus.
My primary goal through August 2024 is to earn $100 through the Medium Partner Program in a single month. To complement this, I'm also working toward monetizing my YouTube channel.
(This YouTube channel is focused on currency collecting, and is an offshoot of my Facebook Group.)
My work on the channel gives me material to bring here, which works directly toward my primary goal.
This will be a short-ish series, once a week, through the end of August.
Six videos uploaded since 6/30/2024
Since the last update, I've added three regular videos and three shorts.
A big part of the hobby for a lot of people is to hunt through a stack of bills for gems. One video was a hunt through fifty $1 bills while I talked on what kinds of bills are good to collect:
Side Hustle Income June 2024
Reporting each month for accountability
This year I'm committed to publishing side income reports each month for accountability.
My goal is to move things forward by keeping it real. Reporting on the good and the bad allows for reflection on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
My primary income, my part-time job income, and my main investments won't be reported. Everything else is fair game!
Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others when I earn it.
Also, for the moment I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall and still will be for a while.
With that, here we go!
Google AdSense income: $13.02 (-$13.52)
This past month's downtick in AdSense income was expected, because I reduced the number of ads showing on the page. I turned off Auto Ads on my main blog because the number of ads was a bit much and dominated the site.
YouTube Channel Mini-Game Update (2 of 10)
A complementary “mini-game” for your main game (main goal) can help you to stay on track.
My primary goal through August 2024 is to earn $100 through the Medium Partner Program in a single month. To complement this, I'm also working toward monetizing my YouTube channel.
(This YouTube channel is focused on currency collecting, and is an offshoot of my Facebook Group.)
My work over there gives me material to bring here, which works directly toward my primary goal.
This will be a short-ish series, once a week, through the end of July.
Two videos uploaded since 6/23/2024
Over the past seven days, I've added one regular video and one short.
The regular video talks about a bill that's both awesome and sad. Awesome because the serial number is very rare, and sad because the bill is torn in two:
How to get a discount through benign neglect
And then, how to do it deliberately
I love beefy discounts. The beefier, the better.
Many discounts require some effort to find, even it's simply going to a coupon site to look for a code, or installing Honey to do it for you.
Once in a while, though, one drops in my lap, and I'd like to tell you about it.
I had subscribed to someone's email list
If you're an online creator, you can't help but love your email list. Where social media wants to charge you for extended reach to your followers, and search engines update their algorithms often not in your favor, email is one of the few remaining digital assets that remains mostly in your control.
YouTube Channel Mini-Game Update (1 of 10)
Keeping score on my side quest
Having a mini-game for your main goals helps to keep focus.
Though my primary goal for the next couple of months is to earn $100 through the Medium Partner Program in a single month, I'm also building up my YouTube channel.
(This YouTube channel is focused on currency collecting, and is an offshoot of my Facebook Group.)
As I work over there, it provides material to bring here, to work toward my primary goal.
This will be a short-ish series, once a week, through the end of July.
Four videos uploaded since 6/16/2024
Over the past eight days, I've uploaded two regular videos and two shorts.
One of the regular videos has me testing out combining a bill hunt (going through dollar bills looking for cool serial numbers) with me talking briefly about a single question. I have another one scripted for the coming week.
Side Hustle Income May 2024
This year I'm publishing reports of my side income each month for accountability.
My goal is to keep things moving forward by keeping it real. Reporting on the good and the bad allows for reflection on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
Since I'm not posting these anonymously, my primary and part-time jobs and my main investments won't be reported.
Everything else is on the table!
Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others when I earn it.
Also, for the moment I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall, and still will be for a while.
With that, let's go!
Google AdSense income: $26.54 (+$7.84)
This past month showed an uptick in my Google AdSense income. Things were looking to be on-par with April until the very end, where I got activity from the Netherlands, of all places!
Make Money with Free Benable Lists
Also drive traffic to your other online assets
I no longer am convinced that a website is the key to online riches.
In fact, it's pretty much the hard way now.
What worked in 2005 was to
- register a domain
- set up WordPress,
- join some affiliate programs
- write blog posts with some of those affiliate links
- do a modicum of networking
- profit
That's far harder to pull off in 2024.
This month my Medium income will outstrip the AdSense and affiliate income from my nearly 20-year-old blog.
A ground-floor affiliate opportunity with Benable
If Medium is the new version of the blog community, then Benable may be the new version of Commission Junction meets Amazon Store. No website needed!
How I Enhanced my YouTube Channel with End Screens
I was halfway there already and it took about 20 minutes
Sometimes solutions present themselves and they're easy because of the work you've already done.
Over the past few years I've built a small YouTube channel dealing with (mostly) cool and fancy serial numbers. I haven't been at all consistent with putting up new videos, so it's not surprising that I'm well away from monetizing it. I stand today at 565 subscribers and about 600 hours of view time during the last year. (The thresholds are 1000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of view time.)
My near-term stretch goal is to make $100 in the Medium Partner Program in one calendar month before the end of August. That's my #1 priority, but I'm going to try to work with my YouTube channel some and write about it on Medium to move both forward.
That almost sounds like I could do a challenge of some kind. Hmmmm …
Side Hustle Income April 2024
An uptick overall but my Medium income was scary …
This year I'm publishing side income reports each month for accountability.
Public accountability keeps things moving forward by keeping it real. Reporting on the good / bad / ugly allows for reflection on lessons learned.
Which sources I'm reporting and which I'm not
Since I'm not posting anonymously, my primary and part-time jobs and my main investments won't be reported here.
Everything else is fair game. Some income will be reported when I cash out, and others when I earn it.
Also, I'm reporting income, not profit. I'm in the red overall and still will be for a while.
With that, let's get a move-on!
Google AdSense income: $18.70 (-$2.79)
This past month showed a modest downtick in my Google AdSense income.
Ohmigosh, another writer going public with his income goal
Joe Forrest, the veteran writer behind Niche Of One, got me thinking.
(As he often does.)
This time, he got me thinking about my online income streams.
Aside from being excited over the first money I made on Medium, they're … not life-changing.
Ten bucks from this source. Fifteen from that source.
Oh, hey, there's fifty from playing poker. Wow.
My side income is mere spare change from as many old couches.
Joe pinpointed the problem.
I read this gem from one of his articles on monetization:
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