Talk and Act
When I lost my job approximately 18 months ago, I was a complete disaster. No job meant there was high stress within my family even with a payout. A mortgage on hand and the payout was only going to last 3 months before we would have the bank knocking on our door asking for their money. Down and depressed and unable to foresee where the next paycheck was to come from, meant that there was uncertain times ahead.
Armed with only my laptop, I began searching for jobs but to no avail. Thousands of other people were in the same boat and were also applying for the limited number of vacancies available. The economy was down, consumer confidence was even lower and dragging the market along with it for this rollercoaster ride.
However whilst searching for jobs, I also had plenty of time on my hands and began searching for prospects online to either make money or save money.
And that’s when a life revelation happened. I managed to stumble across a couple of websites that indicated that a living could be made from the Net. Of course I was a little sceptical, what with Nigerian scams and plenty of spam mail telling me I could make millions from doing basically nothing. But after reading some of these websites, I realized that it was real and that I could participate in the burgeoning industry of online blogs.
But what was I passionate about? What actually could I continually write about? Well given the current circumstances, anything that would help save me money was on top of the list. So whilst I was using the Net to help save myself money, I then was able to share my experiences and thoughts on saving money through my own site. I stumbled across sites that specialized in freebies and considered that this would a niche market that I could excel in. Given that I had recently begun to take advantage of freebies, I felt that I could make a unique and solid contribution that would differentiate itself from other websites.
Starting the site was easy but how was I to make money through it? Having done some research, Google AdSense was a product that continually was mentioned with some sites making extraordinary daily amounts. So I signed up with Google AdSense and was on my way. Sticking within their guidelines and setting up their code within my website was not difficult. The difficulty then was how to drive people to my website. The more traffic, the greater chance of people clicking through and hence more money. I discovered that the most effective methods to do this was to advertise on other websites that were about freebies or saving money. So over the past 2 years I have managed to steadily build the site and have noticed that my Adsense income has also steadily increased.
Now I am able to make a side income that compliments my new office job and know with certainty that if I was to lose my job I would still have this site to keep things afloat.
So for you out there who are struggling, it is possible to make money to survive on. I am a living example!
Tags: cheabies, Coupons, Free Samples, Free Stuff, Freebies
Posted in Adsense · March 18th, 2010 · Comments (0)
At this point in time, not everyone is happy. Unfortunately in this unjust world that we live in, there is a widening gap between those that can afford life’s luxuries and those that can barely afford life’s necessities. I for one don’t try to pretend to know everything about anything but am rather dismayed about how many individuals are suffering at this time financially. Unfortunately money issues play major parts in our lives and therefore affect the other areas of our lives including relationships with our families. These are the ones that often break down due to the external pressures and stresses.
However as we grow wiser and learn from our experiences, history tells us that humans find a way to survive. So matter what your situation, you will end up adapting to the environment in which you live in order to stay alive. Whilst it is a minefield of failures and struggles, every little win makes us stronger and helps us become better suited to living in society.
My own personal journey has seen me go from living life to surviving life in a matter of a few months. Obviously it hasn’t been fun or plain sailing but the lessons that I’ve managed to take away are now helping me put a firm grip on life. So what exactly am I blabbing on about?
Well it is this thing called grocery shopping. As part of necessity, humans need to eat no matter what the economic mood stands at. And so this was fundamentally the first lesson I learnt. How to save on shopping for groceries without too much effort and thus not having to sacrifice anymore than necessary.
The following are some of the key lessons that I discovered:
Shop alone. Nothing bloats your grocery bill like a kid or two at the grocery store. Or your spouse! It makes it nearly impossible to concentrate on your list and the extra requests are likely to get a nod, just to stop the interruptions. If at all possible, leave the family behind. You may not know but supermarket businesses have spent billions on research determining what will tempt you to purchase more. That is the reason why big brand name or higher revenue raisers will have their products at eye level and many toys and items that grab children’s attention on the lower shelves. So if you want to avoid the embarrassment of your yelling child and wasting more money, shop alone!
Stock up when a deep discount is available. Stocking up on products that you will use anyway, when you can get them cheaper just makes money sense. This would include items such as toilet paper and canned food. Make sure to consider shelf life, though. Purchasing 20 kilos of meat for a couple probably wouldn’t be the smartest move even if it was dirt cheap. If you throw it away, you’ve just wasted your money.
Take advantage of freebies offered by companies trying to win your business. With the tight rein on advertising budgets, companies are forced to look to other ways to promote their goods. Offering freebies has become the norm amongst many companies with big names like Walmart offering freebies for consumers to trial.
Hopefully after taking the above points into consideration, you will have started saving your money.
Tags: cheabies, Coupons, Free Samples, Free Stuff, Freebies
Posted in Tips · March 13th, 2010 · Comments (0)