50/50 Week #1 Recap and Review
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It's the end of the first week of the 50/50 Challenge and it's looking good. You have set some fantastic goals and I'm going to share just a few of them here.
Money Earning and Savings Tips this Week
This week we kicked things off with 4 tips to help you save and earn a bit of money on the side.
- Great at Something? Become a Tutor and Earn Money
- Limited Restrictions: No Restaurant November
- Earn a Bit of Money with MyPoints and CashCrate
- Movie & Television Entertainment on the Cheap: Redbox Codes and More
This week I'll continue with tips. Please share your progress and ideas with me – I'd love to highlight your successes and include your advice on spending less and earning more.
50/50 Challenge Reader Goals
There have been some big goals from you. I expected maybe $200 or so as a goal, but some of you are going for home runs. Here's a look at some of them:
I'm going to shoot for a goal of $1,000 in November with the 50/50 split.
50% will be by cutting down on eating out and buying pre-cooked foods, plus grocery throw-away costs, as well as trying to reduce some other monthly expenses.
The other 50% will be from reselling some of the guitars I've bought for that purpose, which have otherwise become part my personal collection, and also from trying to come up with another enterprise that I've yet to think of, maybe something online or trying to sell my writing by some other means.
– Max from Maximizing Money
I didn't think of this, but Sasha came up with another idea on how to make some cash on the side.
My goal will be $1000 for November. I know friends will be going out of town for the holidays so I will offer my house-sitting/pet-sitting services for some extra cash and I will cut some expenses, maybe finally cut the cord with the cable company and just use the internet to watch shows and movies, cook at home more often, and pack my lunch more often than I do now.
I will also sell some things that I have been meaning to sell, this challenge is getting some things off of my to-do list, lol. My birthday is on Saturday so I will ask for gift cards and cash if anyone hasn't gotten me a gift yet.
I wish all of you the best with the challenge!
Progress on the 50/50 Challenge
How are you doing with the 50/50 Challenge? What have you noticed is easier to do – saving money or earning money?
Photo Credit: Alan Cleaver
Thank you for highlighting my goals, now I feel like the pressure is really on to perform well.
$1,000 is definitely a big goal for me, but I saw everybody else was going big, so I got caught up in the frenzy. It’s probably better to aim high and set big goals in life though, as there is no need to think small, although I do hope my goal is realistic.
So here’s how my progress is going on the earning end.
I’ve listed 1 of my guitars for sale on Craigslist so far. It is an Ibanez Exotic Wood model acoustic with an aftermarket electric pickup installed, pretty much in mint condition. The new value was probably $450, I purchased it for $140, and I’m listing it at $250. After a few days, I received several offers, mostly lowball (probably people trying to resell like me), but I do have one serious buyer who I’m negotiating with right now. He offered $180, I said $225, he countered $200, but I’m still pushing for $220 at this point. Part of me said just take the $200, it’s still a good profit, but I feel that the guitar’s value is higher, and I’m not necessarily in a hurry to sell, so I’m holding out for a little more at this point. Hopefully, he’ll agree to the price on the table or another buyer will come forward, as it’s only been listed a few days, although many pros do indicate it’s all about turnover to maximize profit. I guess we’ll see how it goes.
One thing I find funny about many buyers on Craigslist is that they always try to use emotional manipulation to get a better deal. For instance, this guy indicated it was for his son, so could I give him a break. I guess that’s reflective of how Craigslist is a social network of sorts and there’s a personal exchange between people. I feel like telling him he should shell out the extra money, because his son is worth it, but I try to keep things professional.
My next step is to list another one of my guitars, a Hamer USA Diablo model, which has a higher price point with a potentially bigger payout. I’m again going to list it on Craigslist for now and try to sell it locally, but my next step would be to list it on eBay, although shipping guitars safely can be a hassle, so I’d rather sell it locally, even though eBay could potentially provide a higher sale price on the national market.
Now to be fair, I bought these guitars before November within the last couple of months (while hitting garage sales and estate sales this summer and fall), so this is not exactly all November activity toward my goals even if I sell them in November, but I’m taking action in November, and that’s most important for me personally, just to get going on these plans I’ve half-fulfilled so far.
On the saving end of the equation, I’ve failed pretty bad at my main goal, which is to cut out eating at restaurants and prepared foods.
Unfortunately, I had an incident with one of my dogs this weekend that had me running around to the vet and stressed out, so in my exhaustion and not-wanting-to-deal-with-cooking attitude, I did eat out or get take-out on both Saturday and Sunday, which totally blew that goal so far.
This is usually the reason I eat out anyway, I’ll be running around and doing things, and I don’t plan a meal ahead, so when the time comes and I’m starving, I just want to get some take-out or go grab a bite without having to deal with any hassles. Plus, there’s tons of good restaurants around me, so it’s like comfort food to me as well. I also don’t have kids, so it’s not like I have to plan on meals for them, so it’s often easier just to eat out or grab something while I’m on the go.
I did manage to get some groceries today though, so I’m planning on cooking some meals this week, and I’ll just have to resist my urges to eat out otherwise.
I’m still going to have to come up with some other ways to save and earn some extra money to meet my goal, but that’s my progress so far.
Anyway, I hope the details aren’t too boring, but since you featured my goal, I just wanted to give a full report on how it’s going so far.
Thank you again for the motivation and wish me luck.
I love that you have a detailed plan Max! It’s wonderful that you shared how you’re going to do it. Sounds like you have a good guitar collection. How long have you’ve played the guitar?
I hope your dog is alright now- I understand that things can come up. Best wishes on the rest of your month!
Thank you for the support, Elle.
I’ve played guitar for over 20 years, since I was in the 5th grade, if that doesn’t give away my age too much.
I love my guitar collection, which is part of the problem, because I purchase a guitar with the intention of selling it, but then I become attached to them for one reason or another.
Yes, my dog is recovering and going to be fine, but he gave me a little scare over the weekend, so I was back and forth with the ER vet and stressing over him.
Thanks for the best wishes. Hopefully, I’ll be successful in reaching my goal.
I find that I’ve been spending so much lately that saving more is easy — I can reign in some spending that’s (mildly) out of control. Earning more is harder, but thats what I want to focus on since it offers the best chance of growth.
Nothing like accountability to keep us in check! Thanks for this opportunity to join in the community Elle! I’m starting 9 days late as I just picked this up in Google Reader this morning. I’ve been working on cutting back but much too lax, this is a good nudge! There’s a lot I can do to earn and much I can cut out. I’m going to go for the $1,000 this month because I know I can if I put my mind to it and I was so bloody inspired by everyone!
So far in November:
CRAIGS LIST: INCOME $15
for a basket
NEW CELL PHONE PLAN: SAVINGS ~ $39
I was paying $48 a month to AT&T plus .20/text. Last month I calculated the average minutes I used over the past 6 months and it was 89 minutes. At .10/minute that would cost me $8.90, a savings of $39! I switched to a GoPhone plan this month and loving the savings!
CANCELLED AUDIBLE ACCOUNT: SAVINGS ~ $14.95
This was tough because we listen to a lot of audio books. I researched our local library online and found there were scads of titles FREE! I am stoked! I’ve already downloaded a couple and picked up CD’s at the library. This is a savings of $14.95 per month.
SIMPLIFYING SERVICES: INCOME $200
A friend is paying me to help her pair down her wardrobe and tackle the clothes pile-up issue that she’s dealt with her entire life. I’m certain that once we tackle this aspect of her “chaos” she’ll hire me to handle the rest of her space as well.
ADMINISTRATIVE/WRITING SERVICES: $463
I’m handling various administrative duties for my husband’s business. This has not only brought income to my side of the equation, my marketing, etc. has captured several jobs for him! If I accounted for the work I’ve captured for his business it would be several times my $1000 goal in this month alone!
EATING OUT: SAVINGS $50
Cutting back on eating out is huge. I’ve been taking my son out to eat once a week. I’ve cut back to twice a month. The other two weeks I’ve made homemade meals and we picnic. I’m not even accounting for our savings we reap because I’m making my husband’s lunch. This alone would add up to over $200 a month. I’m holding this to my personal savings/income.
HOMEMADE CAT FOOD: SAVINGS $4
I was doing this for years and then slacked off last month. This is not a huge savings but considering that not only do I save on the cost but the health benefits (costs) for my cat are tremendous! I love that I’m not adding to landfill with all of the cans and the lack of the disgusting smell of commercial cat food makes me happy. I buy antibiotic-free ground turkey, chicken livers, and eggs (I use only the yolks). Along with some supplements I buy in bulk and reusing containers from my husband’s eating out (in the past) I spend a couple hours preparing the food. I freeze in one day servings and thaw as needed. I did this for several of my cats for many years. I have very happy cats!
YOGA AT HOME: SAVINGS $125
I love my yoga class but have cut back until my income is at a higher level. I still take a Pilates class and do yoga at home with my husband.
Are we accounting for non- budgeted expenses? (I apologize if this was discussed.)
Amazing job breaking down your plan! It’s fantastic that you’re looking at cutting your expenses and getting some income. I’m not accounting for non-budgeted expenses. I want to keep the Challenge simple to encourage others to jump in.