So What Now When You Can't Make it as a Freelance Writer Alone

Many financial advisers will tell you that you can find a way to cut costs and make it on one budget. Well what happens if you cut all costs that you can, and have minimized everything you can, and you're still struggling? That's currently our situation at the moment. We have no extra splurges, no spending money on cigarettes, no funds on entertainment or dining out and only a $50.00 a week grocery bill. So, what now?? There is nothing more to cut costs on. No allowances for anything. Our entertainment is free stuff around here. We have utilities we pay, a mortgage payment that's fixed, and spend $25 per week in gas. So again, I ask what now?

People automatically assume that you can still cut costs and I'd like to know where. We don't qualify for government assistance and it would cost more in daycare for me to take another job outside of the home. I'm thinking I really need to look into more writing jobs so we can make it in this crappy economy.

And to tell you the truth it does irk me when people say they're barely getting by and can't afford regular expenses, yet they manage to pay big bucks for entertainment and dine out a fancy restaurants on a weekly/monthly basis.


Joy Smith also known as The Insane Writer, is the author of the Sci-Fi novel, The Generation. You can email her at silent_beautie@yahoo.com She can also be found on Twitter @theinsanewriter.

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Financing with Suze Orman

Several weeks ago I was offered the opportunity to receive financial expert and author Suze Orman's latest book titled, " action plan -new rules for new times." If you don't know who Suzes Orman is, maybe you know who Oprah is. Well, she's often seen on oprah's show sharing her financial advice.

So when I received her book, I was thrilled. And I must thank moneymindedmoms and myblogspark for this tremendous opportunity. In addition to the book, I received free access to moneymindedmoms community website. This is better great opportunity for me as a wife, a mom, a sister, and a daughter, to be able to keep track of the financial concerns of our family.

The book covers many areas of money concerns including, credit, retirement, saving, spending, real estate, college savings, financial protection, and kids and money. I love the wide variety of topics included in this book and I can't wait to put a financial action into plan.

The moneymindedmoms committee website includes, information on how to manage debt, help in raising your kids to manage money, and even questions and answers from suze orman. So far it's been a great website I hope to be able to continue to use it in the future.

OK, here's the thing. Usually, I include a giveaway when myblogspark allows me to. However, I'm late with this and because I'm so late getting this post out, I'm not going to post a giveaway for this one. I apologize and will be posting more giveaways in the near future. Also, because this only offers a book and website membership, I'm really not sure how many of my readers would really be interested in this giveaway. If this is something you would love to see in a similar future giveaway, please feel free to comment and let me know. Hope you're having a great week and please check back for more giveaways!


Joy Smith also known as The Insane Writer, is the author of the Sci-Fi novel, The Generation. You can email her at silent_beautie@yahoo.com She can also be found on Twitter @theinsanewriter.



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Keep Your Balance Paid

A few days ago my aunt and I were discussing credit cards and using them during tough times.While it's tempting to rely on a line of credit to make it through hard times, it's not always a wise decision.

Many credit card companies are taking advantage of the economy by charging extra fees and raising the interest rate on purchases. And even if you think your card has a very reasonable interest rate, keep in mind that while it's tempting to put that fast food night out on your card, what was a simple $10 meal could very well turn into an expensive $100 meal if you're not careful.

However, having a positive line of credit can be a good thing when it comes to apply for some jobs and even renting a home. It can also help when there is a true emergency and you need a little extra money before payday arrives. It's when you decide not to pay the balance right away that the trouble starts.

Keep your balance paid and your credit card can become a positive advantage. Don't pay your balance and you're setting yourself up for a trouble of debt. Believe me, I've been there and done that, and it's no fun!

Only Time Will Tell

It's been a very busy week for me and things may very well be even busier. I've had my oldest son with me since Monday, so it's been nice to be able to visit with him. Tomorrow I'll have to take him back, but I'm hoping to be able to get him again for Summer vacation. By then I hope things are a little more financial stable. We're unsure of what will happen with the job situation and unemployment here. We've now been told that it could take 3 weeks or longer to receive a check. That means that we'll be without one paycheck for 3 weeks. I'll be honest. I'm sweating it because I don't think we'll be able to go 3 weeks without a paycheck. So I'm not sure what will happen. Only time will tell.

December Financial Update

With the holidays being here, this month was far and few with freelance earnings. It was a sad disappointment and to makes matters worse, we had to break down and use the credit card to put a down payment on my husband's eyeglasses.

December 1-15th

Private sales: $150.00
Adbrite: $0.22
Payperpost: $5.01
Payu2blog: $10.00
Kontera: $0.00

Total: $165.23

Financial Update for November

As I said mentioned earlier, I am a little behind on blogging updates, work, etc. Here is my update for the first two weeks of November's financial update and goal. I have not paid any more towards debt in these two weeks, but I plan on reducing the balance on the debt next month. The reason for this is because we have five kids we want to buy Christmas gifts for. However, I did put a little money into savings for a car.

Also, I am trying to add to my freelance projects and other online financial opportunities. I am a follower of blogger John Chow. One of his famous quotes talks about not putting all of your eggs into one basket.

However, John Chow isn't the only one who has talked about this. I was reading money magazine today and an article in the magazine suggested the same idea. I think it's a wise decision, more so because of the economic crisis that we are in. Here is my update:

November 1st thru 14th

Payu2blog: $10.00
Payperpost: $17.05
Adbrite: $0.27,
Private Sales: $150.00
Kontera: $0.00

Total: $177.32

As you can see my total dropped by over $100 compared to the last two weeks of October!!! I am hoping to raise this up again!

Financial Update for Mid-October

Lately things have been very busy for me here. When I am not working online, I am working on the kitchen or I'm taking a break due to my health. Last week I took about 3 days off because I really needed it. I didn't work, I didn't even remodel the kitchen. That is partially the reason why I haven't blogged as much as I should be.

But now I'm back and there are a lot of goals and deadlines that I need and want to meet.

The first thing I need to do is give an update on my financial goals for mid-October. Last month I was able to increase a payment towards old debt. I brought down one of the credit cards to a balance of $900.00!

October 15th-31st

Payu2blog: $20.00
Socialspark: $27.08
Payperpost: $31.00
Private Sales: $240.00
Kontera: $0.22
Adbrite: $0.64

Total: $318.94

An Update On My Goal

I haven't had much time to really update my blog or do any work online, due to a tragic death in the family and my birthday being yesterday. Unfortunately this put me behind, so I may be working a lot of hours in the near future unless I get some outstanding paying jobs.

Here is an update on what I have been making. Obviously my goal has not been made for the credit card payment this month and I won't be making an extra payment towards it. I will have to try again for next month.


August 11th
Google Adsense: $1.60
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

August 12th
Google Adsense: $2.22
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

August 13th
Associated Content: $4.00
Payperpost: $10.00
Google Adsense: $0.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

August 14th
Google Adsense: $0.78
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

August 19th
Google Adsense: $0.08
Payperpost: $8.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

Update on my Goals

Its been a busy past few days since the kids start school tomorrow. There is a meet the teachers at school, so we're headed to that today and then after that, there is a back to school event going on at the park.

Before I head out, however. I wanted to share an update on my goals. I had about $40 saved for an extra payment towards the credit cards, but I had to use it for today's school events, bathroom pvc pipes to repair the kids bathroom and pvc thread tape to repair the pipe in our own bathroom. Then my husband needed money for drinks at work. The good news is I still have about $15 left, so it's going directly to the savings account I recently opened.

Here's a quick update of my income lately:

August 6th
Private Sales: $50.00
Google Adsense: $3.98
SocialSparks: $10.91
Kontera Ads: $0.00

August 7th
Google Adsense: $3.03
Kontera Ads: $0.00

August 8th
Associated Content: $4.00
Payperpost: $5.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
Google Adsense: $0.00

August 9th
Associated Content: $4.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
Google Adsense: $0.00

August 10th
Payu2blog: $5.00
Payperpost: $5.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
Google Adsense: $0.00

It's been an impressive week, especially for Google adsense! I hope that it continues to be!

Figuring Out Financing and Getting Out of Debt!

Lately I've been thinking a lot about financial issues. Especially after I got caught without extra money to help my kids at the last minute. With jobs around here being far and in between and pay being on the low end for anywhere you work in this town, it's been very tough.

Years ago the option of Credit counseling was available, so I looked into it with my ex-husband. We had piled on the bills and I thought maybe credit counseling could help. As it turned out it wasn't right for us and we ended up paying most of the bills off on our own.

Well, that was the past and even though I still have some bills from the past, it's nothing too serious that can't be handle with some re-arranging. I checked with a program called BillsIQ and found it to be kind of an interesting thing.



My BillsIQ turned out to be a 72% a C. Not bad, but it could be so much better.

I think with that thought in mind, the first thing I really want to do is pay our insurance on a 6-12 months basis instead of every month. It will eliminate the $3 a month fee and we won't have to worry about insurance for another year. We'll save $30 a year that way. Might not seem like much, but $30 is enough to buy groceries or gas for several days.

But then again, maybe it would be better to pay off a credit card bill instead? It would save us even more since the monthly interest rate alone is almost $30!

If you had the money, what would you eliminate from the bills in your life?

Getting A Home Loan Can Take It's Toll

When my husband and I first started looking for a home, we had no idea what we were in for. There was so much paperwork and so many options we had for a home loan. I'll admit, thanks to past divorces, both of our credit histories stink. Luckily we had an awesome real estate agent and mortgage broker. So if you live in the Independence, Kansas area or you're considering moving here, I'll be happy to refer you.

 

If you've been considering buying a home, but you're not sure what options you may have when it comes to home loans, eHomeMortgages can help in finding a home loan that is right for you. From no down payment to a fixed interest rate, they can help. Even if you're already buying a home, eHomeMortgages can still help. Whether you're considering refinancing your mortgage or you're just looking for a better mortgage rate, eHomeMortgages can help. If you find them useful or not please feel free to drop me a comment and let me know either way. I always enjoy hearing from my readers.

This is a paid post and is sponsored by payperpost.

Debt and Credit Cards

If you're trying to get out of debt like I am, many people will tell you to avoid credit cards. For the most part there is some truth to this. When you're trying to get out of debt, credit cards can be a big problem... especially if you love spending money. For some however, credit cards can be a blessing if they are used the right way.

Take Mint Credit Cards for instance. They offer no interest on balance transfers for 13 months. This can be helpful when you have other credit cards with high interest rates. You can transfer high interest cards to Mint Credit Card and pay off those balances in 13 months. After that the interest rate is at 14.9% for most consumers. Still not bad for a credit card rate.

Mint Credit Cards also offers a 24 hour customer service line and you can manage your account with them online. Less hassle! How cool is that!

If you have other high interest rate credit cards, you might want to give them a shot and see if this offer is right for you and apply for a credit card from them.

This is a paid post and is sponsored by payperpost.

This week's goals, etc.

I apologize for the two day delay in writing a new post. Things have been very busy for me lately and continue to be. I've sat down and made myself a goal of writing at least 6 articles per a day. Not too far fetched I don't think. Generally if I set my mind to it I can wrap out about an article per an hour since the articles are between 450 and 550 words. At most it's 2 hours per article. So I can write for 6 hours a day or 12. I am aiming for 6 hours a day. The money will be used for our mortgage payment and to pay off some old debt.

Wish me luck! I will try to post my progress each day this week to give myself a sort of boost.