Give Me Back My Five Bucks

A huge goal of mine was to increase my income by 50% this year and bring in $25,000 in freelance/side income, and I am thrilled to say that I not only accomplished this goal, but I crushed it. Okay, well, maybe I didn’t crush it. But I definitely exceeded my expectations. In 2009 I only made a few thousand dollars in freelance/side income, and in 2010, I made approximately $8,000. It wasn’t a lot, so how was I able to jump from $8,000 to $25,000? There isn’t an easy answer to that question. I worked hard, and had a couple … Continue reading →

I was asked a few weeks ago to talk about my freelancing income: when I started to make good money from it, and if I’m still on track to earn $25,000 this year.  My freelancing business started in 2005, when I was still in college. I didn’t have many clients. In fact, I think I mostly did volunteer work in order to build up my portfolio. Which actually turned out to be a good move, because I was able to get full-time jobs a lot easier during the first few years out of college, since I had a decent portfolio … Continue reading →

Wahoo! I made an additional $270, bringing my extra income total for July to $1,250! I *would* be happier if I could be saving all of that money, but most of that is going to pay for the trip to Hawaii (and my new MOH obligations), as well as the August wedding. On a positive note, that means I won’t have to dip into my savings or pay for any of it out of my monthly budget (since my monthly budget only reflects spending out of my FT income). Also, in an effort to get back on track with saving … Continue reading →

So far this month, I’ve made $980 in extra income through my PT job, and through this blog. :) I’m really happy for the extra income because it will help with the extra bills that I am paying, and for the 2 weddings that we will be attending this summer. I still have to claim for a few expenses from the Las Vegas trip (probably around $50-60), as well as get a refund for my prescriptions that I claimed on my extended health plan ($100+). Going forward, I don’t think I’ll be making any money from the PT job until … Continue reading →

I found the perfect dress to wear to my friend’s wedding in Maui. Except that it’s $70. I’ll have to think about it, because that’s a lot to spend and I’m already going all the way to Hawaii. I do have another dress that could work, but it’s really plain and not in the least bit dressy. It also has spaghetti straps, which I don’t like wearing to weddings (prefer wider straps for more coverage). That being said, this week I should bring in about $450 from selling my shoes on eBay and from a contract assignment. So I technically … Continue reading →