Work

Making Money Online: Playing Games

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(Have you played games for money or think it would be fun?)

I have started looking for ways to make money on the internet.  I am doing this so I am not tied down to a job in a building.  I want to start traveling.

About 3-4 months ago I watched a video about making money by playing games on your phone.  That sounded so cool and something I had the ability to do.  I downloaded an app that would pay me and got started playing.  So much fun at first (and kind of still is).  The thrill of seeing the points adding up felt awesome.  The points get turned into money that the company will send you or you can get a gift card instead.  The lowest you can withdrawal for money (Paypal) is 50 cents once you make 4,999 points. For a gift card you need to make a minimum of 24,253 which will get you a card worth $2.50.

How it works:
1)  You sign up for the app.
2)  They will give you 2-3 choices of games.
3)  You sign up for one or all of them.  This means you pick the game from this app and it will direct you to the store where you can download it.  You must connect through the app.
4)  Once the game is downloaded, then you just press the icon like you are playing a regular game and it will start adding up your points as you spend time playing.

The first downside is the longer you play the less you earn per minute. Example: Let’s say the first 5 minutes you earn 500 points. The next time it gives you 500 points is in 10 minutes. And so on.
The second downside for me is that my phone ran out of space.  I will say my phone is a couple of years old, so if you have a newer one you may have more space to store games.

Since I have been playing one game for a while my next payout is in 7 hours.  Not making much, but it is still more money than if I was playing for free.  I just took my first withdrawal out.  The sum was $10.32. I know that will not be enough money for me to travel.  Even if I played all day I couldn’t make enough to support myself.  Plus I don’t want to be playing all day.

I do like playing games on my phone and to know that I am making a little bit of money is a side bonus.  There are several apps out there that will pay you for playing.  I have only tried one and this one pays you in EUR.  It is called AppLike.

If you find a better gaming app out there share it with me.  Right now I am hooked on two games and don’t really want to give them up yet.

Happy Gaming!

Have you played games for money or think it would be fun?

Stock Trading: My Very First Trade

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(Have you been wanting to trade stocks or have already started?  Have any stories to trade with me?)

I have been wanting to learn how to trade stocks for decades.  I have not had enough money to put toward this endeavor.  Things have changed a little.  I still don’t have much money to put toward trading, but instead I have found a way where it will cost me less to trade.

On April 23, 2018 I bought my first stock.  I did this impulsively and just because someone online said it was a good stock.  I have read several books about how to trade.  Don’t just follow tips, don’t be pushed because of time to get into or out of a trade, and don’t let your emotions decide what you will do.  I know this…. every book goes over these rules.  Though when it is real money I seemed to stop thinking clearly.  I jumped into this without really checking it out.  (I plan to make a lot of newbie mistakes.)

I bought this stock and it started to go down. NOOOOO!

When I was reading about trading I decided that Swing Trading (holding it at least overnight) would be more my style verses Day Trading (buying and selling the same day).  Now that I made my first trade, it is really hard going to sleep knowing I am down money.  I trust the system (mostly).  Historically stocks eventually go up unless something bad happens to the company.

So, I was going to wait till it went up and then sell it as soon as I was able to get a profit. It went up over my buying price twice, but I was at work and not looking at the market.  If I was able to catch one of those my profit would have been higher.  About 4x higher than what I ended up with.

I know you are waiting for me to tell you the result.  On the third day I sold for a profit of 30 cents.  You may not think that is impressive, but I was thinking WOOHOO!

I jumped in and did something out of my comfort zone.  A topic I only knew a little about and had never tried.  I ended up with a profit and not a loss.  In my book, that makes me A WINNER!

Have you been wanting to trade stocks or have already started?  Have any stories to trade with me?

[When I am writing a blog I will write it then walk away for a couple of hours or a day, then come back and reread it.  I usually find several mistakes that I didn’t notice at my first sitting.  Rereading this question at the end I didn’t realize I had made a pun. ….stories to TRADE with me…. LOL ]

My Newest Strategy – School?

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(What 6 things would you like to be working on or learning?)

I have read several books on bettering myself, procrastinating, how to stop the negative thoughts in my head and how to get organized.  They all have good advice in them.  I try to follow their advice, though nothing substantial has stuck.  I have learned a little from each book and at times I think back to my favorites, but I am still looking for that magical strategy that will work for me.

I have been journaling in my notebook so I can figure out what I am going to do with the rest of my life.  Right now I am working 4 jobs and volunteering a few hours at a Senior Center.  When you put these all together I am working 7 days a week.  If that wasn’t bad enough I am not breaking the 40 hours a week mark.  That could be a good thing, though with 4 jobs you would think I would be making extra money by working over 40 hours.

So one of the several things I am trying to work out is what jobs am I going to have coming September and how I am going to accomplished what I (keep telling myself I) want.

As I write in my journal I vent and then tried to problem solve.  I started thinking about High School.  During school I was taking 6 classes and doing homework for these classes.  I liked learning new things.  What if I treat all these ‘wants’ as classes.  As long as I fit some homework in every week then eventually I would get to my goals.

I have more than 6 things I want to work on, though I decided to pick the top 6 to start with.  Here is my list:

  • PE  (I need to get exercise back into my day.)
  • Blogging about decluttering  (This way I can cover decluttering and blogging in the same class.  I do plan to do other blogging topics also.)
  • Make $ on the internet  (I want to learn how to make money from home and try to learn about passive income.)
  • Making furniture   (We are going to build a loft in one of our bedrooms… I need to figure out a plan for this, the materials we will need, and how to actually build it.)
  • Planting, gardening, yard work  (Since all of these are outside in the yard… I just grouped them together.  I am not sure I am ready to garden, but I want to grow food.  I have blackberries, a plum tree, a pot of strawberries, and I just got me a raspberry plant.  I am hoping to get blueberries next.  I want to utilize them this year… in years past many went to waste.)
  • Swing Trading  (I have looked into this some but then stalled out.  I feel like this would be a good fit for me, though I need to learn more about it.)

These are my six classes that I want to spend time doing homework for.  I hope this strategy will work for me.  If not, I am not sure how many more ideas are out there for me to try.

I look forward to completing these classes or better yet having them become a habit or future job.  Then I can go onto my next 6 classes.

What 6 things would you like to be working on or learning?

I Begin Again: Decuttering

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(Do you have shoes to go through?  After you do tell me how many you tossed/donated?)

Well, I am finally back.  I have hardly done any decluttering.  That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been thinking and planning.  I have been working extra hours at one of my jobs, then went on a week vacation with my family.  Though mostly I just couldn’t get myself to do anything.

My plan was for me to get my jobs situated and work a little less during the summer so I can work on projects.  One of those projects is to declutter.  I have less work hours right now SO….

Here I go!  My first project is to go through our shoes and declutter/minimize.

I forgot to take a picture before I started.  This picture is when I have already taken some out of the wood shoe shelving.  Also to the left of the wood shelf is our black rolling shoe rack that usually hides behind the cat tree.

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I ended up throwing away 8 pairs of shoes.  I think I could have done 2 more, though did not have the constitution to do it.  8 pairs in the garbage may sound like a lot to you, because I know it does to me.  Let me tell you how I deal with my shoes.  I buy a new pair of shoes when my old ones develop holes.  I will keep the shoes I am replacing just in case my feet get sore in the new ones or in case something happens to my new shoes.  Well, I have been doing that for the last 7 pairs of shoes without getting rid of the extra pair.  I was happy that even though I threw a lot away I was able to donate 3 pairs.  YEA!

Here is what the final product looks like.  Outside the wood shoe tower there were consistently 4-6 pairs of shoes on the floor.  Now only flip flops.  The black shoe rack is now back behind the cat tree.  This time just full of shoes we plan to use.

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I feel pretty good about this project.

Do you have shoes to go through?  After you do tell me how many you tossed/donated?

When You Think You Have It Planned

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(Have you ever thought you had something all planned, then have it fall apart?)

I have been working hard making plans for my summer and when I think everything is settled, all of a sudden it isn’t.

I have been looking for a new job to go along with my others.  I have quit my morning job (they knew I was looking) after I have found a new morning job.  I had figured out my hours, how much money I will be making, and how much time I would have off to get projects done this summer.  It was all looking great.
I went on a camping vacation with my family and I was to start the new job on the Monday after returning.  The night before I got a call from a different boss telling me they are closing their business with no warning.  I am now losing about $400 a month.  Then to find out that the new job I just got may not be steady work, but come in as needed.

I am not panicking because I really wanted more time in the summer to do my projects, though I do need to make sure I can pay my bills.  Walking that fine line can be tricky.

So, I am going to go with the flow and hopefully if I start to struggle I can ask for more hours from another job that I still have.  Sometimes there is a benefit working for more than one company.  Like the saying says….  Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

This is life?  As in the movie Matrix…  if life was all easy we would get bored.  I will definitely say I am not bored and at times I just want to laugh at this situation.  Stay tuned and see if I make it through the summer.

Have you ever thought you had something all planned, then have it fall apart?

Days Fly By… Little Progress

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Stuck  (my first title for this)

(What are the things you want to accomplish?  Are you working toward them?)

One minute, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year flows into the next.  It can go by so fast and I look back and see very little accomplished.  Nothing has really changed.

I am working just to pay bills I have caused.  These bills from fixing my car, buying a few things I didn’t really need, going out to eat that shouldn’t have gone on my credit card, and the most fun Vacations!  I need to do better not turning to the credit card.  Watching all the videos about minimizing, and living without debt is making me crave it, though to get there work is involved.

So ‘Do the work’ I think to myself.  I have many excuses why I am not doing the work.  Most of them are not good excuses.  But even if the excuse is bogus it will hinder me from getting to what I believe I want.

I want to be debt free
I want a decluttered house
I want to spend quality time with my family
I want to remodel my house
I want to be able to follow my passions without worrying so much about money
I want a job where I am happy, satisfied and know I am making a difference.
I want to be healthy and have a healthy family

Doesn’t sound too hard!  Though most of these take time and determination.  I need to stay motivated if I am going to accomplish them.  That is what this blog is about for me.  If I know people are watching, then I hope it will keep me motivated.

Keep watching, liking, and encouraging me.   Thanks in advance.

What are the things you want to accomplish?  Are you working toward them?

My Procrastination Problem

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(Do you have a procrastination problem?  Have you come up with any tricks to help you?)

I am the queen of procrastination.  Leaving things to the last-minute is the way I live.  It frustrates me, it’s depressing, and I just don’t get things done that don’t have a deadline.

If there is a deadline at work I will have it done!  I had a job once that my boss would give me a list of things to do in the office that day.  I would do bits of the jobs all throughout the day and I would get it done.

A few times my boss would add something that needed done halfway through my shift which would mess up my plan and throw me into stress.  I was not very good with things just popping up.  Saying that I still almost always got everything done by the end of the day.

So why can’t I do that for myself?  I write a TO DO LIST in the morning.  I know what needs to get done, but by the end of the day only a small portion gets done.  I have enough time to do it if I would just work and get it done.  I just don’t stay focused on my list.

I recently read a blog by blogger ‘my one life. today’ and she put in a great video into her blog titled ‘Unopened boxes’.  I am so grateful I came across this.

The video’s name is ‘Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator’

This video totally explains how my mind works.  I have a monkey problem.  I have put deadlines on myself, though if I don’t get it done I just have me to report to.  That is not much motivation for me.

I started this blog to help me declutter my house.  I am dragging my feet.  Working on my house seems very daunting.  Even a small pile of papers seem like a mountain at times.   I am not giving up.  I will be decluttering again.

I just need to get the monkey to shut up and stay in his tree.

Do you have a procrastination problem?  Have you come up with any tricks to help you?

Personality Test

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(Have you ever done a personality test?)

I have gone though a couple of personality tests at different jobs.  My first one was at a preschool.  I guess some of the teachers were complaining about each other.  We were all co-worker friends, but some dealt with change better than others.  Some didn’t take constructive criticism well.    The director decided to have a person come over and do a personality test on the group.

After the talk/test I found out I was a helper.  I like things fair.  No one should be overlooked.  I was also a planner which mean I do not like sudden changes.  I like a back up plan.  A fellow teacher which was one of my better friends was a helper too.  One teacher (the K teacher) got her work done, went to school, and had many things on her plate and accomplished it all.  She couldn’t understand till this test why we were not getting it ALL done.  This test was a good thing and opened our eyes to how we think different and alike.

At another job the boss brought in a personality tester for the group.  There it was me that was singled out.  I was the only A personality in a sea of (7 employees) B personalities.  Before that I was getting a little bit frustrated not understanding my co-workers as well.

I have enjoyed these test and would recommend them if you are having trouble at work.

Have you ever done a personality test?  Did it help or open your eyes?