Even I spend time scouring the Internet for new ways to make money

There are times when I spend hours and hours on the Internet trying to find the best and easiest way to make money online.  If you also spend time looking for different ways to earn a little cash online you might consider giving this link a try.  http://www.experienced-people.co.uk/1042-top-ways-of-making-money-online/

There are a lot of ideas and not all are for everyone but maybe you will find one or two that will work for you.  Good luck in your money making endeavors. 

Contests

The other day I was thinking about a solar project and ended up at the Instructables website.  While clicking through a bunch of projects I noticed that they had several contests running.  So I decided to enter a couple of them.  I think that I have a pretty good chance of winning one of them. 

If I do win I would win a Teton Sports Scout Frame Backpack, Leatherman Juice XE6, 100ft of Paracord, and a SAS Survival Handbook along with an Instructables Prize Pack. If you have an account with Instructables please vote for my entry.  Just click this link.

Fiverr earnings update

To date I've sold 11 link packages on Fiverr.  That comes to $44 less Paypal fees.  The link packages that I'm selling is a link to your site on three of my blogs for 6 months.  It costs the buyer $5 so if you would like to cut out the middle man and purchase a link package directly for $4 [which is a 20% discount] just send me a message.

I do have a couple of other items that I'm trying to sell on Fiverr but no bites yet.

The Emergency Savings Conundrum

Earlier I posted that my van had lost the transmission.  At the time I paid for it with a credit card.  Now the bill for the credit card has arrived and I have a decision to make.  Looking at the big picture I have two options.  The first option is to raid my emergency savings fund and payoff the the outstanding balance.  The second option is to make payments until the loan is paid off. 

My concern is tapping the emergency fund for such a large amount.  What happens if something even more catastrophic occurs.  In my mind it seems like a better idea to payoff the loan over time while maintaining the balance on the emergency fund.  But then I think that I should payoff the loan and replenish the emergency fund over time. 

The expenses associated with the transmission problem along with additional work done to the van once I got home would take a significant percentage out of the emergency fund.  Thus my conundrum.  As I waffle on this issue I look at points of financial impact including.

Likelihood of loss of earnings
Possibility of reduction in earnings
Cost of interest on the loan
Near future budgetary concerns
Moving the loan from a credit card to another loan vehicle

Ultimately I have decided to raid the emergency fund to payoff the loan.  But anyone facing a similar conundrum must take a look at their own situation and consider the different variables as they relate their situation. 

I made $12 selling links this month

A while ago I signed up for Fiverr and offered links on my blogs for a six month run.  I sold one link back in January.  Nothing since.  Until this month.  This month I sold three more.  Pretty quick way to make $12.  Fiverr keeps $1 per sold "gig."

I insert the link, let the buyer know and I can withdrawal the payment in 14 days.  Quick and easy.  I can't wait until more people purchase my "gig." 

Ugg lost my transmission

On my annual journey to Myrtle Beach, SC I lost the transmission in the van.  It happened about 30 miles north of Columbia, SC.  While in the passing lane accelerating all of a sudden there was no power and the tachometer spiked into the red.  Now unable to pass the line of cars in the right lane we made our way to the shoulder of the highway.

From the shoulder of the highway we were able to secure a tow and a car rental reservation.  The van was towed the 30 miles to a transmission shop in Columbia and the tow truck driver was kind enough to drop us off at the airport so we could pickup the rental car.  So we drove back to the transmission shop to retrieve our luggage.

We drove the rest of the way to Myrtle Beach that same day.  Between the transmission repair, the tow, and the car rental my credit card got quite the workout.

Know your options

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Fannie Mae for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you are falling behind on your mortgage payments it is a good idea to find out what alternatives you have available.  KnowYourOptions.com is a good resource for you or someone you know who is having financial trouble.

There are several areas that may be of interest:

Options to stay in your home - These options include refinance, forbearance, modification and deed-for-lease. 

Options to leave your home - These options include short sale [which is when you sell your home for less than the balance remaining on your mortgage] and deed-in-lieu [which is when you voluntarily transfer the ownership of your property to your mortgage in exchange for a release from your mortgage loan and payments.

The "Beware of scams" section lists both resources [such as phone numbers to HUD approved counseling agencies] as well as scams to look out for.

There is even a pretty cool video simulation called WaysHome that puts you in the role of a homeowner who is in financial distress.  You make decisions and the simulation provides the outcomes both good and bad based on your decisions.  It is a pretty effective learning tool.

Know Your Options by Fannie Mae is a great website to inform yourself about the options that are available.  It is very important to gather information for yourself and maybe turn to an expert to help you make a decision as to what to do when your finances make it difficult to stay in your home. 

Thinking about buying a small business

I would love to own my own business.  Be my own boss.  But starting a business from scratch has been difficult for me.  Trying to figure out what kind of business will do well, creating a business plan, diving into it without much of a safety net.

So I got thinking maybe buying an existing business would work.  The biggest problem with this idea is coming up with the funding.  I've found a couple of businesses that look good but the price tag is over $500,000. 

So I thought perhaps the seller would finance the deal.  Sadly the broker shot me down.  The broker was quite rude which surprised me.

So I'm back to looking for another opportunity.

Good bye to free checking accounts?

Last year Congress added an amendment to the financial reform bill that would reduce the amount of interchange fees merchants have to pay financial institutions to process debit card transactions.  What this amounts to is a transfer of wealth from the financial institutions [banks, ect] to the merchants [Wal-mart, Target, ect].

Even though the reasoning behind the amendment to have the merchants reduce prices on the merchandise they sell because their interchange expense would be reduced the likelyhood that this will actually occur will be minimal, at best.

The financial institutions will be collecting less in fees from these merchants making checking accounts less profitable.  So how are financial institutions going to make up this income shortfall?  Easy...start adding fees and restrictions to checking accounts.  So the transfer of wealth will ultimately be from us, the consumer, to the merchants. 

Yes, you might be able to find free checking accounts if you look hard enough.  So a total extinction of free checking accounts, like the total extinction of the fabulous hooked billed Dodo bird is probably not going to happen.  But I'd bet that in a lot of cases your bank will no longer offer a truely free checking account, an account without fees or restrictions.

Beach Bum Apparel additions

New t-shirts and mugs added to my online apparel store.  Check them out.  I hope to have some more by the end of the year.  I don't make a bunch on them but I have no overhead.  So it is a quick and easy way to set up an online t-shirt store.