That is, will my husband and I be able to save 3 K in three months? As I mentioned here, there is a wedding we'd like to go to six months from now, but it is in a fabulous far away location. We're trying to save the money to go in the next three months. Three months is about when we'd need to buy plane tickets, and three thousand dollars is about how much money we'll need to save to pay for this fabulous vacation/wedding extravaganza. We do not want to slow down on our pay off the darn mortgage and student loan plan for a pleasure trip, so we're going to try to earn the extra on the side.
Here's what we're doing and/or considering:
1. We've advertised to those we know that we are available for house and pet sitting.
2. Selling Stuff. E-Bay, Cash4Books- we're trying it all. We don't have much more to sell though, as much as I declutter. I'm keeping an eye out for possible resale items at thrift stores and yard sales.
3. Unexpected money- Any birthday checks, Discover Card cash back bonuses, pennies we find on the sidewalk, etc is going into the 3K fund. Any overtime I do at my temp gig will go to this fund
4. Ads on this site- I am an affiliate to a few projects, I have google ads, and I am working on some other advertising possibilities. It is not much, but every bit helps!
5. Freelancing- I'm currently looking for freelance writing and other small freelance projects. I've found one very small one, which is encouraging me to look for more.
If we do not meet our goal (or get at least reasonably close enough) then we will not be going on the trip, but we WILL have extra to send to our mortgage/student loans. Either way, we win. I'm so excited to take on this project, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.
I also encourage you to try to earn some extra on the side to fund your own goals, be they paying off debt, going back to school, or just beefing up an emergency fund. I've found many more opportunities to earn a bit here and there than I expected- and I know you can as well.
5 comments:
It's a win/win situation, for sure! You seem pretty intent and I think you can do it!
Blessings,
Niki
If you like kids, try finding some evening babysitting gigs. I've found that families are paying $10+ / hour for an educated, twenty-something. Like yourself, I'm married and don't mind spending a Friday or Saturday evening babysitting. Many single gals (especially younger ones) aren't interested in giving up their weekends. Most of my $20 Challenge money has come from babysitting. Friday night I played outside with the kids, came in and watched Ice Age with them, and then read magazines until their parents came home. All in all, an enjoyable evening AND I made $60.
I wanted to add that I didn't start reading magazines until the kids were fast asleep in bed :-) I don't find babysitting hard, but I'm not a slacker!
3beansalad,
I've considered babysitting, but I have no idea where to find people. I have not babysat since I was a teenager! Maybe I'll take out a Craigslist ad.
You're probably already doing this, but be sure your money is going into a high-interest savings account. For example, ING Direct has a 4.3 annual percentage yield right now. You might even be able to find a better deal than that.
Here's a link to some calculators you can use, that might be worthwhile for you: http://home.ingdirect.com/privacy/privacy.asp?s=CalculatorsWorksheets#
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