Wednesday, December 31, 2014

My Ways To Make Some Extra Money Has Paid Off!

My Ways To Make Some Extra Money Has Paid Off! It's been awhile since I wrote on here, but I did decide to go back to school and am taking the prerequisite courses for nursing (anatomy and physiology I and stats are done; A&P 2 and micro comes next semester.)

I've been working and going to school in the evenings and plan to keep my job until I start nursing school. In the meantime, I've been trying to find other ways to make some cash and pay down credit card debt and keep rent money flowing when I do give the job up.

I've done a lot of helping people move their belongs and lawn mowing on the weekends, which has helped me raise extra cash.

John Benson photo
I read a bunch of different ways to earn money and about personal finances from Reddit and articles on NosyNation about getting my finances in order.

Those sites were really helpful. I scoured craigslist and backpage in my area and found a few good gigs that paid cash. The extra cash has been socked away and put towards my CC debt.

I've earned about an extra $1500 bucks so far in the last 5 months.

The only bad thing about using this method is that it's not always consistent, especially the moving.

One weekend I'll see three or four listings for moving help. That's all fine and dandy, and I call them up and offer my services.

The problem comes the next weekend: Nobody needs help.

I also picked up lawn mowing gigs, too. Those were pretty consistent -- lawns need to be mowed every week -- and I've got some good clientèle so far.

Now that winter is here the mowing stopped and the snow started. It hasn't been very snowy around here, so I haven't been busy, which is probably why I'm writing this.

The extra money has been great, but I think I may try to continue doing this on the weekend.

I do have about 4 hours after my "real job" where I could do something simple like stock shelves or be a cashier.

Should I get a another job?

I want this debt paid before I start my RN program but I also realize that Americans are more in debt now than ever.

According to an article just published by USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/07/29/america-debt-loads/13152651/, one-third of Americans are in delinquent debt.

When it's delinquent, it means that the debt is way past due and they closed the account and have put the debt to collections.

Thirty-five percent of Americans get phone calls from collection agencies because they don't pay their bills.

I'm lucky that I don't have this style of debt. I've always paid the minimum amount on my credit cards -- while raking up more purchases on them.

Nonetheless, I have debt but have always paid on it. I've been working to pay it down the past two years. (I made some mistakes when I got my first credit card my freshman year in college. 'Hey, this is free money. Let's go party!')

I only have a 1K left to pay down and then I'm home free. I think that's why I'll get a second job.

I may also try to explore other avenues to try and find ways to make some extra money. I've signed up on a few writing platforms like Hubpages. I've also got an account on Fiverr but I'm not sure what I can sell just yet.