Category: Money

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8 Simple Ways To Save Money

save money

8 Simple Ways To Save Money

Sometimes the toughest issue regarding saving money is simply getting started. It may be tough to work out easy ways to save lots of money and the way to use your savings to pursue your monetary goals. This bit-by-bit guide to money-saving habits will assist you develop a practical savings set up.

1. Record Your Expenses

The first step to saving money is to work out how much you spend. Keep track of all of your expenses; each coffee, newspaper and snack you purchase. Ideally, you’ll be able to account for each penny. Once you have your information, organize the numbers by categories, like gas, groceries and mortgage, and total every amount. think about using your credit card or bank statements to assist you with this. If you bank on-line, you’ll be able to filter your statements to simply break down your spending.

2. Create A Budget

Once you’ve got a plan of what you spend during a month, you’ll be able to begin to prepare your recorded expenses into a possible budget. Your budget should outline how your expenses relate to your income, so you’ll be able to set up your spending and limit overspending. In addition to your monthly expenses, make sure to consider expenses that occur frequently but not monthly, like car maintenance.

3. Plan on Saving Money

Now that you’ve created a budget, create a savings category inside it. Attempt to put away 10-15 % of your income as savings. If your expenses are so high that you simply can’t save that much, it might be time to re-evaluate your expenses. To do so, determine non-essentials that you simply will spend less on, like amusement and eating out.

Tip: Considering your savings a daily expense, like groceries, could be a good way to strengthen good savings habits.

4. Choose Something to Save For.

One of the simplest ways to save lots of money is to set a goal. Begin by thinking of what it is that you want to save for. It could be anything from a deposit for a house or for a vacation. Then find out how long it would take you to save for it.
If you would like help determining a timeframe, try the savings goal calculator on NerdWallet.

Here are some examples of short- and long-term goals:

Short-term (1-3 years)

– Emergency fund (3-9 months of living expenses, just in case)
– Vacation
– Down payment for a car

Long-term (4+ years)

– Retirement*
– Your child’s education*
– Down payment on a home or a remodeling project

*If you’re saving for retirement or your child’s education, think about putting that money into an investment account. While investments go along with risks and may lose money, they also produce the chance for compounded returns if you intend for an event far earlier.

5. Decide on your Priorities

After your expenses and income, your goals are probably the most important impact on how you save money. Make sure to prioritize your long-term goals as it’s suggested that planning for retirement doesn’t take a back seat to shorter-term needs. Prioritizing goals will provide you with a transparent idea of wherever to begin saving. For instance, if you recognize you’re planning to replace your car in the near future, you may begin putting money away for one.

6. Pick the Right Tools

If you’re saving for short-term goals
– Regular savings account
– High-yield savings account, which normally features a higher interest rate than a regular savings account
– Money market savings account, that features a variable interest rate that would increase as your savings grow

For long-term goals
– Securities like stocks or mutual funds. These investment products are accessible through investment accounts with a dealer. keep in mind that securities, like stocks and mutual funds, aren’t insured by the corporation, aren’t deposits or alternative obligations of a bank and aren’t bonded by a bank, and are subject to investment risks, together with the possible loss of principal investment.

7. Making Saving Automatic

Almost all banks provide automatic transfers between your checking and savings accounts. you’ll be able to select when, how much and where to transfer cash to, or maybe split your direct deposit between your checking and savings accounts. Automatic transfers are an excellent way to save cash since you don’t need to think about it and it usually reduces the temptation to spend the money instead.

8. Watch Your Savings Grow

Check your progress each month. Not only will this assist you to keep going with your personal savings plan. it also helps you determine and fix issues quickly. These simple ways to save lots of money may even inspire you to save more and hit your goals quicker

Article Source: Mark B. Entz (March 2019) https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Marc_B._Entz/163959

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Moving From Redbubble to My Own Storefront

beige and tie dye split

Should I move from Redbubble to my own storefront?

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you purchase through my link, with no cost to you.

Just over a month ago I wrote a blog post about using Redbubble as a way to earn passive income. I have since abandoned my Redbubble account and shifted to selling through my website.

There are pros and cons to both options and I will explain my reasoning to make the switch.

Redbubble

Pros:

  • Simple user interface that makes uploading your own designs very easy
  • Set it and forget it. Once your design is uploaded Redbubble does the rest
  • Redbubble does it’s own marketing and ranks high on google searches
  • Large number of products to choose from
  • You only have to upload your design once and it is available to customers on all available products
  • Ability to set your own price or markup for each item
  • Have access to thousands of shoppers

Cons:

  • Limited self branding opportunities on things like product labels and packaging
  • Payout dates are once per month and Redbubble has a payment threshold of $20
  • While you do have access to thousands of shoppers, those shoppers also have access to hundreds of thousands of artists and designs
  • Certain designs may be removed at the discretion of the Redbubble team
  • No options to choose the specific supplier of products, no choice in quality of products

Overall, I would say that Redbubble is a great option if you don’t have a lot of time to tend to your own shop. It’s also a good option if you don’t want to deal with the technical aspects of your own online store.

Redbubble vs Your Own Store

My Own Store

Pros:

  • Full control over products, pricing and shipping options
  • When the customer pays, you get paid. No waiting for payout dates or thresholds
  • Your customers are there for you, not for a provider. They are your customers
  • You appear as a more reliable “company” rather than just a random artist
  • More chances to experiment with other products and services like dropshipping

Cons:

  • The initial set up takes longer than the simple sign up form from Redbubble
  • There are startup fees for starting your own store. Things like a domain name and hosting site for a website (I use SiteGround for my hosting and I highly recommend it for yours if you are looking for affordable, user friendly hosting with great customer service), or a standalone online store with Shopify
  • Depending on what and how you are selling, it takes more time than a Redbubble account. You have to make sure that the store/website is working properly and answer customer questions and other sorts of customer service issues.

My choice

I initially started with Redbubble in February when I was first looking into t-shirt design as a form of passive income. I was intrigued by the number of products Redbubble had and the ease of starting an account with them.

I quickly realized that the odds of my products being seen in a specific search were very small considering the number of artists and designs that are on that site. At least with my own store, I am in charge of marketing my own products. So if nobody sees it, it’s on me. I can’t blame a website for not featuring my art above someone elses.

Scarlet Witch
Marilyn Monroe sticker
Agatha notebook

I am a bit of a control freak which comes naturally with my OCD. So the idea of having everything on my own lap was more appealing to me. That and the fact that the overall profit margins are better with my own store than on Redbubble.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love Redbubble. I will still buy items from their site since they have such a huge variety of designs to choose from. And if you don’t find anything you like in my store then I would recommend checking it out. In fact, my daughter has her own Redbubble account where she sell some of her favourite designs. But ultimately I would love it if you found something in my store that you just couldn’t live without.

What would you do?

So that is my short journey from Redbubble to opening my own online store. I did get one sale in the month and a half that I was with them and made a profit of approximately $1.15 (woo hoo). And so far I have no sales and probably no traffic in my own store which I have only had operating for less than a week. I am still importing items to the store pages and trying to choose the best layout design for what I need.

I hope that this helped answer your questions about whether you should go with your own online store or make your sales on a site like Redbubble. There are benefits and downfalls to both so it really is just a personal choice.

Thanks for reading. And you can find my store here and my daughters Redbubble store here.

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7 Ways To Make Money With An iPad

ipad computer and camera

7 Ways To Make Money With An iPad

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you purchase through my link, with no cost to you.

Everyone want to find different ways to make money. I finally made the plunge and invested in an iPad. I purchased the new iPad Air that was released in October 2020. The main reason I chose this tablet was for the size and the fact that I could draw with the Apple Pencil and pro Create. The screen is a little smaller than the pro version but it’s price was a few hundred dollars cheaper. I just couldn’t say no.

I told myself that I would try to get as much use out of it as I could so that it’s not just another gadget that you buy, but never use. So far I’ve only had it for about a week, but I haven’t put it down. I love it.

Now the goal for me is to figure out a way to use the iPad to make money. At least to make back the money that I put into it. As stated in another post, I started an account on Redbubble to try and make some extra passive income. It’s been fun trying to come up with some cute designs to sell as stickers or t-shirts. I was using Adobe Photoshop on my laptop to make the images.

I’ve been using Photoshop for a number of years and am self taught, thanks to Google and Youtube. For most photo edits an text images, it’s an I really need. But for me, trying to draw an image with a mouse is very difficult. Enter, the iPad. Just going through a few online tutorials and playing around with it, I think this machine is the greatest invention, ever! And for any creative person who may not have the best art skills, this is a must have.

Now on to the good part. Making money.

I am a list maker. I think it is part of my OCD which I talk about often. So when trying to think of ways to make extra income using my new toy, I thought it is of course the perfect reason to make a list. So here it is. My list of _ ideas to make money using your iPad.

Start a Blog

The first, and I think the most obvious since you are reading my blog, is to start a blog. While it has been a slow and struggling start for me, balancing between my family, my mental health and trying to figure out what to actually write about. If you are someone who has a lot of ideas and a way with words, then this will be an ideal option for you. Now I know that you can also do this on a laptop or desktop, but the convenience of doing it on an iPad is that you can save your ideas where ever you are. The iPad is much more portable than a CPU.

Income can be made by using affiliate marketing, advertising revenue and even selling your own products like courses or an ebook, all of which I will get to next. You can start your own blog for as little as $10.49 per month with Siteground. There are other less expensive host providers out there, but I have found that Siteground is perfect for a beginner like me. Their platform is easy to navigate, they have an amazing number of tools, themes and help aids. And if you still have questions their customer service is fantastic.

Affiliate Marketing

One of the best ways to make money, potentially a whole lot of money, is affiliate marketing. This is the process of promoting products for companies on your website, blog or social media platform. For example, in my first recommendation above, I mention Siteground as my preferred web hosting platform. I included a link to the site as well as a banner advertisement that will direct you to their website. Those clickable items are my personal referral links that the company can track back to me. So if someone (like you for instance) were to follow that link and purchase webhosting from Siteground, I would make a commission from that sale at no extra cost to you.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of companies that offer affiliate marketing. You could apply to become an affiliate with almost any company you can think of. But to make things even easier, there are sites out there that have the companies all lined up and ready for you. Sites like MagicLinks, ShareASale, and Clickbank have partnered with many, many companies that you can promote products for. Companies like Target, Urban Outfitters, Nike and so many more.

Sell Your Own Products

This is the one that I am focusing on right now. With my new iPad, I was finally able to download the ProCreate app, which in my opinion is the greatest program out there. I am in love with it. If you would rather try a free design tool you can sign up to Canva.com and open a free account. Canva is easy to use and has loads of pre made templates that you can use as a starting point.

The number of items that you can create is endless. Things like journal pages, calendars, posters, even your own eBook. Whether it is to use your wealth of knowledge to teach something, or a bestselling story idea that you want to finally complete and possibly publish.

Many web hosting platforms also offer an e-commerce plug in that would allow you to sell products on your own site. If you don’t have a big following on your website, then getting enough traffic to make sales could be a challenge. If that is the case, there are sites such as Etsy, or Creative Market that will host your items as listing and they do all the marketing to get people to their site. I would still suggest sharing your products as much as possible so that people can find them.

Testing Websites

This is another one that can also be done on a laptop or smartphone as well as the iPad. But my reason for including it in this list is because with the larger screen (as big as 12.9 inches) navigating through websites is much easier that using a tiny phone. I take transit on a regular basis and find that the time goes by faster when I have something to do. So why not test out new websites and get paid for doing it.

Websites like Enroll or TestingTime let you test websites on an iPad, desktop/laptop, or smartphone and you can earn cash, or rewards that convert to cash.

Review Music

I listen to music every day. It plays in the background while I do almost everything. The only time I don’t have music playing is when I’m sleeping or watching tv. If you love music as much as I do, then this side gig should be fun.

Join sites such as Slice the Pie or Music Xray to review and rate new songs, bands, commercials and more. Each review earns different rewards at different values depending on the site and what it is you are reviewing. The payouts may not be huge but I feel like if you get paid to do things you would be doing anyway, then why not make the extra cash.

ways to make money with ipod and headphones

Share Your Knowledge

What are you good at? Can you create incredible spreadsheets in Excel, or perhaps you are an amazing cook and want to let the world know your secret. No matter what it is that you do, someone else will want to learn. For this you can create your own online course to teach others and share your knowledge.

There are tons of websites that allow you to upload a video course, like Teachable and Udemy. Whether it is a single video or a series that has different parts to it, you decide. You simply create your video, upload it to one of these sites and set a price point. Promote your course on your own website, with your email list, and even on social media. Get it out there for people to find and enjoy the payouts that come from teaching what you love.

3,100+ Portrait Photography Poses Cards Bundle

Sell Your Photos

Do you love taking pictures? You don’t have to be a professional to make money on your photos. The quality of cameras on smartphones and tablets has come a long way. With minimal equipment and a good eye you can make money by selling your photos to online stores like ShutterStock*, iStockPhoto and Dreamstime just to name a few. You basically make a percentage of the sale or a fixed rate depending on which site you choose. *If you sign up to ShutterStock using this link you will receive a $30 Visa prepaid card when you sign up for an annual image or footage subscription.

different ways to earn money

So that’s it. Those are my top 7 ways to make money with an iPad. Keep in mind that I’ve only owned one for less than a month so I will more than likely do a follow up post in a few months to add more or elaborate on what I have here.

Let me know what you think of this article, and if you can think of any other ways to make money using an iPad (or home computer) let me know in the comments section. I look forward to researching them.

Thanks for reading.

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Trying Redbubble

shopping shirts

Trying Redbubble

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you purchase through my link, with no cost to you.

Now I have a tendency to try too many things at once so I have to really focus myself this time. The idea of passive income is, of course, the most attractive to me. Passive income meaning that you put in the work once and then it continually makes money for you. Ideas along this line include investing in stocks or real estate, writing a book or and e-book, advertising on your car (yes, that’s a thing), and the one that caught my eye was e-commerce. More specifically, creating designs for print on demand services for stickers, t-shirts and home items. In comes RedBubble.

I’ve been in a real slump in being focused enough to write blog posts. My OCD and ADD takes over and I think about 50 different topics to write about. But when it comes time to actually write the post I have nothing to say.

Pinterest is my biggest distraction. Once I get on there and start searching for ideas, I fall into this rabbit hole of ideas, then, memes, then cat videos, and so on. So while I was digging in the rabbit hole, I noticed a few posts about different income streams. And that piqued my interest.

What to do about it.

My daughter had started her own Redbubble store a few months ago and didn’t really put much work into it. I think she only has 9 designs available but she has made a few sales. Her designs are digital drawings of popular characters from movies and tv. They took some time to design but the look great. (Check them out here)

I personally am somewhat artistic, but my creative juices have long run dry. I’ve been slowly working on exercising that part of my brain again through different outlets like scrapbooking and drawing. It has proven difficult, but I feel like my creativeness is expanding.

Once I did a little bit of research about Redbubble and designs that are popular and sell as either shirts or stickers, I realized that many times, not a lot of artistic ability is required. Creativity on the other hand really does help a lot.

Resources to help

But there are great apps out there to help with the design process. YouTube is a great resource to find people who have been successful at e-commerce and you can get some fantastic ideas on how to start. One of the best apps for design is called Canva. It has a free option that you can use to get your initial designs up and running, but then the Pro edition is vital for using the extras to make your design professional looking.

What should I make?

Anyway, back to RedBubble. I noticed that a large percentage of the designs available are mostly word based. Funny sayings, holidays like Christmas or Birthdays, and even simple quotes. Some of them have really fancy fonts and some are just simple text. With that in mind I decided to give it a try myself.

So far I have 36 designs and they range from movies quotes, to photography, ➡➡➡
to some digital art that I’ve been dabbling in. I try to create things that I love and would personally buy, but I also try to include items that I think might be trending in the near future.

For example, today is March 1, and I just created a design for Cinco de Mayo. It’s actually really cute and I wouldn’t mind having it on a pillow or a mug. So in face I still stuck to the idea that it should be something that I would buy for myself.

Passive Income

The great thing about Redbubble is that once you upload your design and set all the products and pricing parameters, your work is done. Redbubble is a huge site that does all of it’s own marketing and often appears at the top of google searches. As long as you can tag your products with relevant words and phrases, and focus on certain niches that don’t have too much competition, you should get noticed.

I’ve had my shop open since Feb 19th, so it’s only been about 10 days and although I haven’t received any sales yet, my items have been “favorited” 17 times. I plan on adding at least 2 new designs every day or an average of 50-60 per month. I figure that the more options I have available, the bigger the chance of getting some traffic and hopefully some sales.

I’ll check back in about a month* to let you know how it’s going. Fingers crossed.

Check out my shop here* and let me know what your favourite design is or if you have any design ideas that I could include.

*Updated April 15/21 – I have left Redbubble to try selling on my own site. Check out why here.