Money Making Mojo

The hardest thing about being determined to pay off a debt or to save is to get focussed and stay focussed.

Those who have read this blog will see that I've lost focus on that goal several times.  If I had stayed focused, I would have paid off my mortgage by now and have a nice little income in the form of rent.

Most of the time, doing what you always have is not enough and you can only scrimp and save so far.

So how to make that extra money to throw at the debt you want to kill?

Firstly look at what you do.  There's 24 hours in a day.  How much of that do you spend in front of the TV?  Could you spend that couple of hours doing something else? Do you sleep too much? (I do given the opportunity)

Have a look at People Per Hour or E-Lance.  Are there any jobs on there that you could do in that couple of hours a night

I know you don't want to work all the hours, but this doesn't come easy.  Hard work pays off!!

Are you crafty?  Have a look at Etsy or Folksy.  Is there anything on there that you can make and sell to create another income stream?  I find Craftseller magazine a great inspiration.  Buy a second hand one off ebay, see what you think.

Is there anything you can do locally?  Babysitting maybe?  Tutoring students?

Do you blog? Can you write? Can you complete questionnaires for a few quid (you could do that AND watch TV!)

And your regular job, could you do more hours?  Are you worth a pay rise?  Can you do a project at home maybe for a bonus?  

If you own your own business, market yourself in different ways to get more work with a different clientelle, maybe?

These are just ideas to get you in the right frame of mind.  You have to have several income streams to make this work fast.  Have a look at the March Side Hustle Posts on Mortgage Free in Three.  Elaine's kids were determined to make a set amount and they did it.  They pulled together and they did it because they worked hard and made more income streams.

Hopefully I've got you raring to go now?! So go!  Do!!

Paying my Next bill with Wool

So, if you've read yesterday's post, you'll understand how I'm really going for this.

I was a little disappointed to receive my next bill as usually it's for about £20. I then remembered that before Christmas I forgot my debit card so bunged a bit of Christmas shopping on it to the tune of £200.

Bah. 

They are getting use out of their onesies though and it saves me loads in washing and ironing!! :-)

So, it needs paying off hasta pronto and I mean like in a week, because it's bugging me because I didn't think it was there.

I'm taking the Mortgage Free in Three advice of breaking down the amount into 100 chunks. 
I'm already 30 squares in.

£20 from my penny jar
£4 from making dinner not buying it yesterday
£30 from eating from the freezer and not shopping
£6 from not getting popcorn and a drink at the cinema

So that's £60 without much effort!!

I've just listed my wool stockpile on eBay. There's 60 balls so a potential £60 there as I've priced them to sell.

I don't have the time (or skill!!) to knit and crochet and its taking up space I need.  So it needs to go.

Please do go and have a look and bag a bargain!!

Do can I do it? £140 by this time next week?

I'm off to make sell some cufflinks to make sure I do!!

5 Ways to Turn Spare Time into Money

So, its alright me banging on week after week about saving money, but if you don't have any to save, you're still stuck in that rut.

You know you need to get some money coming in and here's a starting point to making that happen.

1. Turn the Telly off.  You could be spending your hours making money. 3 hours a night for 5 nights could be bagging you as much as £150 per week!! 

2. What do you do?  If you have a profession can you do a bit of freelance work at night?  Before I set up my consultancy business, I used to write policies and do assessments when the kids were in bed.

3. What's your hobby?  We all dream of making money from our hobby, so why not do it?  I turn my love of paper crafting into a sideline, although admittedly I could try harder to get more commissions.

4. Do what people don't like doing.  Ironing, gardening and car valeting are great ways of turning your spare time into money.  Invest in, or print off, a few small flyers and post them through the doors of people in cash rich, time poor areas.

5. What can't you find?  How many times have you tried to buy something and have not been able to find it? How many tunes have you thought "someone could make a fortune doing that" ?  Well why not do it? What exactly is stopping you?

I hope this gives you at least one way to bring more money into your household.  Just to be a spoilsport though, make sure you are saving this extra income and not blowing it.  You're putting a great deal if effort into making it, so make it count.  Make mortgage overpayments our save it towards something that could push you into debt.

Have you any ideas on how you can bring in more money?  Please share your ideas and leave a comment on how you did it below.