Reader Stories: How to pay off debt and save money! Part 2

This post is from the series called "Reader Stories" about tips, success, and lessons learned by our readers. Be kind and enjoy!

Today's Reader Story comes from a mother of two with an eye for discounts. She has found ways to save money on many items and services we all use every day. Many tips are so simple, they are profound.

Understanding the difference between need and want is critical in being successful once you embark on a financial plan or goal

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If you absolutely need something try looking for it on Ebay or Craigslist prior to purchasing in a store.  One example is a cell phone charger.  I could have purchased one at the sprint store for 29.99 and decided to check on Ebay where I got not one but three chargers for a total price of $5.64.  I wanted a bobby pillow before having my second child to make breastfeeding easier and because this was a want not a need I decided to look for it used on craigslist versus buying at Baby R Us for $39.99 and ended up getting a used one for $5. 

According to Pet Education, the cost of owning a dog over its lifespan is anywhere from $5k-$14k depending on how thrift you are.  If you are thinking about purchasing an animal, I would advise against it if you are trying to pay off debts or save money because caring for animals is costly and a want not a need.

Clothes shopping?  I only shop at goodwill or salvation army for clothes.  Salvation army has 50% off most of their clothing and shoes every Wednesday which makes their prices much lower than goodwill prices.  I wear dresses often because the price is $4.99 at goodwill for a dress where an outfit would end up costing more than that.

Buy generic when better and take a calculator with you to the store.  If you are trying to determine which diapers or cereal box is the better deal.  Take the price of the item and divide by how many items you receive or ounces you get, then do the same for the other item so you know exactly how much you are paying.

$15.99 for 103 diapers (15.99 divided by 103 = 15.52 cents per diaper) 

$5.00 for 33 diapers ($5.00 divided by 33 = $15.15 cents per diapers)

In this example, it is a better deal to get the 33 pack diapers because per diaper it is cheaper.  I buy dental floss, mouth wash, aluminum foil at the dollar store and buy anything generic you can.  Walmart has equate Valvoline for $1.00 where the Valvoline (name brand alternative in same size bottle is $2.79).

I now only buy soda pop if I can get it for 25 cents a can or less and anything more than that, I am simply not interested.  This means I can have enjoy 6 cans over 6 days for the same amount of money I would have spent on one 20 ounce bottle at the work vending machine.  However, tap water is much cheaper than soda pop so would be the best option.

The average household in the United States has over 8k in credit card debt.  An $8,000 debt at a rate of 18% interest will take more than 25 years to repay and cost more than $24,000.  Do you know your interest rates?  If you don’t call your credit card companies and find out.  Some credit cards can charge interest as high as 30% or as low as 13%.  You want to pay off the 30% credit card first versus the 13% card.  However, work to never spend more money than you make.

How could a credit card pay you to use it? That sounds too good to be true.  The reason credit card companies want you to use them is because they get a cut every time you purchase something.  Credit cards charge the merchant for accepting the credit card 2-4% of the purchase price

Look for programs to help you save for your future goals.  For example, citizens bank has a savings program for purchasing a home where you save $100 a month for three years and they give you $1,000 in free money towards the down ayment on a home.  They also have a college savings program where you save 25 a month, each month, and are rewarded $1,000 in free money once your child reaches 18 years old.  Go here for more information:  http://www.citizensbank.com/savings-and-cds/college-saver.aspx

Buying a home, use an easy rule of thumb to ensure you are living within your means.  Never purchase a home greater than 2.5 times your yearly income.  Doing so could put you in dire financial strain in the future.

Aim to never buy a house unless you have 20% of the purchase price to put down on the home.  Why?  If you do not have 20% down when you purchase the home the bank considers you a risky person to lend to and buys “private mortgage insurance on you (AKA PMI).”  You will be paying an extra monthly charge with your mortgage of $37.50 a month or $450 a year.

Stay tuned for part 3 and don't forget to comment and discuss!

Want to share your success and tips? 

Email personalfinance4thepeople@gmail.com to find out how.

Reader Stories: How to pay off debt and save money! Part 1

This post is the first in a series called "Reader Stories" about tips, success, and lessons learned by our readers. Be kind and enjoy!

Today's Reader Story comes from a mother of two with an eye for discounts. She has found ways to save money on many items and services we all use every day. Many tips are so simple, they are profound.  

I bought a house for $56k and a car for $16k just five years ago and have paid them both off with an income of $45k a year.  I was also able to afford $6-8k a year in daycare expenses.  How did I do it?  Hopefully these tips will help.

     

The two biggest ways to manage or save money is through budgeting and auto-deductions.

1.)  Budgeting- Review all credit card statements and ATM withdrawals to find out exactly how much money they are spending in different areas.  From there, you can prioritize what's most important to you and where you are willing to cut back on spending to free up money to put toward their financial goals.  Typically, people are spending a lot more money than they realize on food, entertainment, miscellaneous expenses throughout the day, and clothing.  It's also a great idea to have people carry around a check register or regular pen and paper to immediately write down every expense they incur for one whole month.  It's amazing how fast expenses add up!

2.)  Auto-Deductions- Just like people have 401(k) contributions set up to pull money out of the paycheck before you see it.  People automatically adjust their lifestyle to spend whatever is left in their account so you most likely will not even miss it.

3.)  If you shop on the internet, don’t check out without googling a coupon code.  I have saved over $100 and received free shipping by simply finding these coupon codes online.  I recently made a purchase at K-Mart online free ship to store.  The local store already had the items I wanted and I used a coupon code to obtain 20% off my order and when I went to pick them up I didn’t have to wait in a large line or go look for my items.  They had my items ready to go and I already paid.  This saves time and money. 

4.)  Look at all your bills?  I have saved $5 a month for a year just by calling my cable provider and asking if there were any promotions or discounts available or anyway to reduce my bill.  I already had the smallest package they offer but they still were able to give me $5 off a month for a year because of my persistence.

5.)  Don’t go to the cell phone store, call them instead.  I went to a sprint store and they told me there was no such thing as a 500 minute plan.  They told me this, I propose, because they do not make any sales bonuses off selling contracts like this.  I called sprint customer service and obtained a 500 minute plan with free sprint to sprint (all I need) for $35 a month on a basic phone.  Not having a fancy phone is an easy way to save money.

Stay tuned for part 2 and don't forget to comment and discuss!

Want to share your success and tips? 

Email personalfinance4thepeople@gmail.com to find out how.

100+ ways to make $100: #17 Resell SSL Certificates

An SSL certificate is something that websites often use in order to prove that their website is secure. This certificate is digitally "signed" by a certificate authority that people already trust after they verify the identify of a secure site.  Many website visitors need to know a site is secure before they submit payment or personal information, so webmasters NEED the SSL certificates. You can become a partner with any company that offers SSL certificates and resell them on their behalf. These companies either will either sell their SSL certificates to you at a discount, and you can resell them, or they will offer you incentives based on the number of sales you make. You can find examples of such incentives on verisign.com or on digicert.com.

In order for you to become a partner to resell SSL certificates, here are some steps you can take:

* Browse the net and make a list of companies that offer SSL certificates
* Sign up for partnership account with the company
* Identify potential customers and make the sales
* Provide a list of number of sales you made for the month to the company
* Enjoy the sales incentive How much revenue can I make by reselling SSL certificates?
*   If the company with which you have become a partner offer sales incentives, then it depends on the number of certificates you sell and how much that particular company is offering.
* If the company with which you have become a partner offer certificates at discounted prices for you, then your profit will be the margin that you keep for yourself.

100+ ways to make $100: #16 Buying and selling links

In order to get higher search engine rankings on Google, a lot of people feel that they need to have a lot of backlinks pointing their site. Backlinks are basically links on other people's websites pointing to another site. When someone links to another person's website, it shows Google that their website is worth linking to, and so Google gives it preference for their search engine placements. The higher the search engine placement, the more publicity a business gets, so a lot of people try hard to get more links to their websites. Because so many people want links, you can profit on this by acting as an intermediary between people who are willing to sell links and people who are willing to buy them.

In order for you to buy and sell links, here are some steps you can take:

* You can look for those who want to buy or sell links in forums of sites which talk about links (Example: http://www.linkadage.com/)
* Make yourself aware of the link buying and selling guidelines
* Market only valuable links (links that have high on http://tinyurl.com/3fxwko8 on Google)
*   You can also create a website advertising your services.
* Start advertising your site on social networks, amongst friends, or via other traffic methods. How much money can I make out of buying and selling links? 
* It depends on the amount you charge for connecting people. You can also buy links on your own and then charge people for them, in which you can create your own pricing. You can make anywhere from $1 to $300 for a link, depending on how valuable the site is.

Abracadollars!!! 3 tips to make money.

Personal Finance 4 The People is pleased to team with others who are able to share their expertise in various areas. We hope to combine our efforts to bring a greater financial effort inorder to help you reach YOUR Financial Independence. Today's guest post comes to us from J. S. Aikens.

We’ve all heard the advice from the financial experts. “Pay off your debt; Put some money toward your savings; Prepare for your retirement.”  This is all great advice, but if you’re anything like me you’ve probably wondered aloud, “Where the heck is this money supposed to come from?”  Well, I hope at least one of these tips will be the seed to get you started

      

Got high interest credit card debt? Then you probably feel like you’re spinning your wheels with your payments.  If you’re current, but unable to make a dent in your principal, try calling your credit card company in the evening or on a weekend. You are more likely to reach a part time employee who may be more lenient and more likely to grant your request (i.e. pleas) to lower your interest rate. With a lower interest rate, that same amount will benefit you because more of your payment will be applied to the principal.

Got a car note? If so, contact your car insurance company and see if they can refinance your car loan for a better rate.  If so, you’ll have two advantages. You can pay your vehicle loan more quickly (if you take advantage of the lower interest rate), and you will have a 30 day grace period during which no payment is due.

Got friends?  If so, do any of them have a small business? Host a gathering (preferably potluck) at your home in which they can present their product or service to your friends and relatives in return for a portion of the sales. You can catch up with your loved ones, and make money in the process.  You are only limited by your imagination, so get creative.

Remember, it’s never too early to plan for retirement, nor too late to build wealth.

100+ ways to make $100: #15 Start A Forum Posting Website

As stated before, many webmasters want people to post in their forums. A lot of times they will hire just one person, but at other times, they want a lot of people to go in at once, but don't feel like hiring a lot of individual people. If you can pool up 5-10 forum posters yourself, you can provide a "one-stop" service where a webmaster can pay you and you can then go out and pay people individually. In order for you to start a forum posting website, here are some steps you can take: * Create a website advertising your services. * You can hire forum posters from any of the freelancing sites or by looking on forums where people are interested in working, such as work-at-home mom websites. How much can I make out of having a forum posting company? * Obviously a lot will depend on what you charge and how much you have to pay your employees, but you can easily make $100/day by doing this after getting enough clients.

100+ ways to make $100: #14 Become a website or domain broker

There are a lot of people interested in buying people's sites. They would like to buy sites so that they can own established websites without having to do the work on their own, or they see profit potential on sites, and so on and so forth. A lot of people would love to sell their sites, too but don't know how. As a website broker, you can connect buyers and sellers to each other and take a percentage of the sale for making the introductions.

In order for you to become a website broker, here are some steps you can take:

* Create a website outlining the basics of what you do. As you get buyers and sellers interested, update the website with what buyers are looking for and what sellers have. Don't put seller's site details on your website, otherwise buyers can go around you to bypass your commission. Just put general details.
* Start finding people interested in buying or selling their sites. You can find these people by going on existing sites for buying and selling such as flippa.com, sitesell.com, or buysellwebsite.com. Even if people are already listed on one website, it doesn't mean they don't want additional help.
* Don't give out site details to buyers until you get them to sign paperwork saying that they won't go around you, sign a noncompete, and so forth.
* When a deal is made, collect a percentage of the profits. How much can I make out of being a website broker?
* You can make anywhere from $100 to the millions of dollars, depending on how valuable a site and/or domain is.

100+ ways to make $100: #13 Employee Referral

Many companies will offer referral bonuses for people who can recruit excellent new employees for their organization. If you know a lot of people or have relationships with recruiters, this can be an easy way to earn some extra cash. You can also find potential prospects for companies by using the internet.

In order for you to become an employee referrer, here are some steps you can take:
* More companies do have employee referral programs than don't, which means you have a lot of opportunity to help employees find potential jobs. If you're unsure if a company offers a referral program, give them a call and ask. You may want to start with your own company, if you currently have a job.
* Find out if the people in your network are looking for jobs.
* Go on freelancing sites like elance.com, guru.com, and odesk.com, and check out the profiles of people there. Communicate with people that sound good, and see if they'd be interested in getting more regular work.  
* Refer people to HR of the company you work with or other company that you're recommending them for. You will get paid if they get hired.
* You can also try to build up a relationship with external recruiters. If you can do this, then you can get a list of current job openings from them. This can be incredibly lucrative. How much can I make out of being an employee referrer?
* Bonuses are anywhere from $50 to the $1000's of dollars. A lot of this depends on the type of position (the stronger the qualifications needed, the higher the referral bonus) as well as the company you're working with.

100+ ways to make $100: # 12 Outsourcing Middle-Man

Many companies look to hire people in order to help them expand their web presence, to create content for their blog, or help assist them with other tasks. If you are good at managing people as well as marketing, you can act as an "agent" for some outsourcers. Identify people that can do certain work, and then advertise their services to other businesses. Mark up the price so that you can make a profit.

In order for you to become an outsourcing middle-man, here are some steps you can take:

* Browse through freelancing sites, forums, and websites to find people that you can hire.
* Create a website where you lay out the services your team can do, as well as prices and turnaround times. * Start advertising your site on social networks, amongst friends, or via other traffic methods
* Start building up your customer base. Do a great job, implement word-of-mouth referral programs, and start collecting testimonials from the people you help. How much can I make out of being an outsourcing middle-man?
* A lot of how much you can make depends on the type of services you offer, how many clients you can handle simultaneously, and how well you can market your services.

100+ ways to make $100: #11 Translation

If you know any other second language, then it will help you make money by opting for translation jobs. This is another easy way to make use of your spare time and convert it into money. Especially if you know any of the languages for which translators are in huge demand.

In order for you to become a Translator, here are some steps you can take:

* You can get hired for translation jobs through any of the freelancing sites
* There are many sites which provide translation services exclusively. You can submit your interest and get hired through any of those sites as well
* Identify the sites which post all the jobs related to translation. Get yourself registered in those sites
* You can start your own site and make people know about the translation services that you are ready to offer How much can I get paid for translation jobs?
* You can get paid anything from $0.01 per word depending on the demand for the language. If the number of translators for the language are scarce, then you can charge a good rate per word Are you interested in acting as an agent or intermediary? Do you have a knack for business and are good in dealing with people?

100+ ways to make $100: #10 Online Counselor

Many people like to go online for counseling instead of meeting people in person. They feel that they can be more anonymous this way, and they also have the convenience of not needing to drive anywhere. If you have the ability to counsel people effectively, this could be a fun job for you. You do not need to have a special degree, although it would obviously give you a cutting edge.

 In order for you to become an online counselor, here are some steps you can take:

* Create a website that discusses your qualifications and how you are able to help people. If you don't have a degree or qualifications to prescribe anything to people, let them know. Some people just want to pay you so that you can listen to them and they can vent their frustrations. Just make sure not to overstep what you can legally do.
* Start advertising your site on social networks, amongst friends, or via other traffic methods.
* Start building up your customer base. Do a great job, implement word-of-mouth referral programs, and start collecting testimonials from the people you help. How much can I make out of being an online counselor?
* Depending on your skill level, you can make from $100-$200 an hour and upwards.

100+ ways to make $100: #9 Find A Popular Program And Resell It

Everyone knows the saying, "Don't reinvent the wheel."

If you find a program that is selling well, you can either promote it for a "commission" from the seller (usually 50% and referred to as "affiliate commission") or you can buy resell rights to collect 100% of the sales. If you buy resell rights you have to invest some upfront money, but if you pick a good enough program then you'll earn back your money very quickly.

In order for you to find a popular program and resell it, here are some steps you can take:

* Do a mental inventory and think about programs or courses you know are selling well. (Need a tip? on http://e1kad.com/r/action-enforcer-resalerights is a top seller.)
* If you've come up with a course or a program on your own, contact the owner and ask if they offer resell rights, or at the minimum, an affiliate program.
* Buy resell rights if you are able to do so, or sign up as an affiliate.
* Begin telling people about the product. You can do this via social networks, telling friends, posting on forums, blogs, or many other traffic methods.
* Start building up your customer base. Do a great job, implement word-of-mouth referral programs, and start collecting testimonials from the people you help. With enough persistence you can soon sell even more resell rights and affiliate programs. How much can I make out of resell rights?
* Depending on how many customers you have and the price of the product you're selling, you can make up to thousands per day (though of course you'll have to work up to that).

100+ ways to make $100: #8 Podcasting

Podcasting is similar to blogging, only you would do it via voice instead of typing.

You would get the same benefits and approach it the same way (post regular content, etc.) but it's just a way to suit people who would rather learn via listening versus reading. To get started with podcasting, you need a headphone, microphone, and software in which to record your audio. You can earn money with podcasting the same way you would with blogging via advertisements, on https://www.google.com/adsense and by recommending other programs that offer commissions.

In order for you to become a podcaster, here are some steps you can take:

* Create a website with which to put podcasts on
* Record your content you can use a free recording program such as on http://audacity.sourceforge.net if you don't already have something
* Convert your recordings to mp3
* Upload your mp3 along with a description to your website
* Start sharing it!
* Get it converted in to MP3 format
* Upload the mp3 on your site
* Add content as frequently as possible so that you build up a regular listener base.
* Start advertising your site on social networks, amongst friends, or via other traffic methods.

100+ ways to make $100: #7 Sell A Service On Fiverr

fiverr.com is a website where people sell lots of services at $5 a pop.

People sell all sorts of things there from advice giving to article writing and many things in between. Browse through the site to get an idea of what people are offering. You can either offer the same things, create new "gigs", or both. For every "gig" you sell, you make $4 and Fiverr keeps $1. Some of the more popular gigs can easily earn you $100 or more a day.

In order for you to make money with Fiverr, here's what to do:

* Sign up for an account with fiverr.com.
* Click on "Start Selling"
* Click on "Create First Gig"
* Follow the instructions to create whatever gig you'd like
* Wait for customers to accept your gig and do a great, timely job once they come.
* Tip: For additional information, feel free to visit foolprooffiverr.com

100+ ways to make $100: #6 Become A Blogger

If there's something you're passionate about, you can create a blog where you can talk about it.

This is a fun way to share your passions while learning and teaching about what you're already excited about. In order to do this well, you would need to be a good writer with the ability to make people interested. You would also need to be able to post fairly regularly to a blog.

Blogs can be monetized in several ways. Just some ways are to have companies pay you to post their advertisements (this is better for blogs with a lot of traffic), or put on https://www.google.com/adsense/ on your blog. With this option, Google pays you every time someone clicks on an advertisement.

In order for you to become a Blogger, here are some steps you can take:

* Choose a company to blog with. Two of the most popular ones are blogger.com or wordpress.org.
* Decide if you want a free account or if you would like to host the blog on your own domain (if you bought a domain, your blog could like www.yourpassion.com, or a free account would look like www.yourpassion.wordpress.com). Most people opt to buy a domain so that their blog appears more professional. If you choose to do this, you'll need to sign up with a hosting company (I recommend on http://www.hostgator.com their plans are as low as $4.95 a month), and then have your domain routed to the hosting company. This may sound difficult but it's actually very easy, and onhttp://www.hostgator.com customer support can help you with any questions.
* After your blog is set up, decorate it however you would like (Wordpress calls the blog skins "themes", and Blogger calls them "templates")
* Post news, lessons, stories, or anything relevant to your blog.
* Add content as frequently as possible so that you build up a regular readership base.
* Start advertising your site on social networks, amongst friends, or via other traffic methods. How much can I make out of blogging?
* It can take some time to establish a blog, but the profit potentials can be quite large. Some people report making in the millions of dollars from a blog. Your earnings will vary based on traffic you get to the blog, how interesting your content is, how often you post, and the types of advertisements you put on your blog.

100+ ways to make $100: #5 Article writing

If you are a good writer, you can earn money by writing articles for people with websites. Many website owners know that they need to keep their websites current and up to date, but don't have the time to constantly create new content for them. Because of that, they hire people who can write on their behalf.

In order for you to become a content writer, here are some steps you can take:

* Post a profile on freelancing sites such as elance.com, guru.com, and odesk.com. Describe your interests and your levels of expertise.
* Look for writing jobs on the same freelancing sites and apply for them.
* Google "writer job openings".
* Ask the owners of websites that you already like if they are looking for writers.
* Tip: Learn how to write articles in 7 minutes on http://www.7minutearticlesecrets.com/ How much can I make out of writing?
* Content writing jobs pay anywhere from $1 to $100+ based on the length of the article and your expertise. If you're already an expert on the topic you're writing about, you can often charge a premium.
* Even if you are new to writing, you can make upwards of $.50 for each 100 words on an article.

100+ ways to make $100: # 4 Submit links to Social Bookmarking sites on other's behalf

Because there are so many websites online, it can be very difficult for webmasters to get their sites noticed and stay competitive. In order to attract more visitors and build traffic for their site, website owners sometimes decide to submit their websites to Social Bookmarking sites. Instead of doing it themselves, they often opt to hire service providers for a small fee, to submit their website links on various Social Bookmarking sites.

In order to submit links to Social Bookmarking sites on other's behalf, here are some steps you can take:

* Collect a list of quality Social Bookmarking sites which active members. You can do this by googling "popular social bookmarking sites".
* Decide on a fee structure and create a way to collect payment.
* Try to find as many customers as possible. Start advertising your book on social networks, amongst friends, or via other traffic methods.
* Get the website links submitted on time. Provide clients with reports on the number of sites you submitted and the links you have created for the customer from time to time How much can I make out with social bookmarking?
* You can make earn between $10 per each set of 100 Social bookmarks, and slowly increase the rate you charge based on your expertise.

100+ ways to make $100: # 3 Create templates for Facebook Fan Pages

Many companies need to advertise themselves and Facebook Fan Pages are one phenomenal place to do it.

You can either play with the Facebook fan page instructions, or you can grab on http://e1kad.com/r/wp-fan-page-pro to make your job easier.

In order for you to make money with Facebook Fan Pages, here are some steps you can take:

Create a Facebook Fan Page for a business in your area.
Email them and show them what you've created.
Let them know they can buy it if interested.
Flip the site.

How much money can I make? You can reasonably expect $200 - $500 per site, and you may also want to charge a monthly maintenance fee.

100+ ways to make $100: #2 Forum Moderator

As long as forums exist, forum moderators need to exist.

This is because webmasters need people to block negative comments, make sure things are running smoothly and forum users are getting their questions and comments responded to. To be a forum moderator, you would need to monitor comments posted by users, delete spam, answer questions from users, and reply to user messages. You would also encourage threads, add new content to the site, and block comments posted by people who ignore forum rules. If you have an interest in certain forums, this could be very interesting for you to do. Just like with forum posting, you also have the potential to learn a lot.

You can find further tips on http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10716 In order for you to become a forum moderator, here are some steps you can take:

* Post a profile on freelancing sites such as elance.com, guru.com, and odesk.com. Describe your interests and your levels of expertise.
* Look for forum moderator jobs on the same freelancing sites, and apply for them.
* Google forum moderation job openings.
* If there are forums you're interested in, check with the owner. A lot of people don't post on freelancing sites but rather prefer to hire people who post a lot. How much can I make out of moderating forums?
* Depending on your role and experience, you can make anywhere from $5 to $20 an hour. You may want to start lower in order to build up your resume.

100+ ways to make $100: #1 Forum Posting

One of the easiest ways to make money online, if you have a flair for talking, is by fourm posting.

A lot of webmasters have started hiring people to post on their forums so that their forums look busy and popular. They feel that by making their forums look more popular, they will be able to attract more long-term visitors. When you're posting in forums, all you would have to do is initiate new threads, or respond to existing ones, and keep conversations going. You may do this by posting interesting thoughts, thought-provoking conversation, or teaching people things. A cool perk of this job is that you get to learn new things.

Also, if you post in forums that you're already interested in, you basically get paid to have fun. In order for you to become a forum poster, here are some steps you can take:
* Browse through freelancing sites such as elance.com, guru.com, odesk.com, etc.
* Apply for forum posting jobs on those sites
* Respond back to the buyer on time if you are called for an interview
* Agree on the pay per post and the deadline
* Get the job done within the accepted deadline How much can I make out of forum posting?
* For each forum post you make, the general prices range anywhere from $0.10 to $0.50 per post.

If you have time to devote to this during the day and are able to make between 200 to 1000 posts (depending on how much your job is worth), then you can earn $100 a day. You can also, of course, do whatever you would like per day and then mix and match with another suggestion from our lists.
I have made quite a bit of money using oDesk. I have even been hired to write a book on playing basketball. Two of my favorite things.