Ways to make money when you are starting over

Starting over is not something you do in a couple of minutes, days or weeks. It can take months before you get everything under control and it might even take years to repair the 'damage' of whatever made you start over. One thing that can help smoothen things out is money. Even though money does not make you happy, it can help you get on your feet and buy you the time you need to recover. So how do you make money, especially when you lost a job or haven't had an income at all?

Work
The fastest way to earn money is to work. Get a job, try to work more hours, start your own business, whatever makes you happy AND whatever is available at the time. Sometimes a parttime job can be a great solution. Work means making money and losing time that cannot be used spending money. That is kind of win-win.

Sell
Nowadays, there seems to be a market for everything. Sell whatever you can live without. You might think that you don't have anything to sell, but you'll be surprised about what other people want to buy. Think clothing, dvds, gadgets, kitchen materials, shoes, etc. It will not make you rich, but it will provide you with some extra income and more space, which is also worth something.

Take online surveys
Online surveys offer cash or gift cards for your efforts. This is also something that will not make you rich, but it can help pay the bills or allow you to buy gifts without actually having to pay for them.

Participate in clinical studies
If they include overnight stays, the rewards can add up to thousands of dollars/euros. They are supposed to be safe, however, you must be able to leave your home for a day and a night or more. You can also participate in smaller studies, which do not require overnight stays.

Of course, there are many other ways to make some extra cash to get you back on your feet. What would you do (or not) to make some extra money?  

Starting Over

10 years ago, I had it all. My whole life in front of me. A warm loving family, a good set of brains and great looks. Of course, I still have the brains and the looks, but a lot has changed since then and I am now at a point where I have to start over. There are many things I would not do the same way again, I've learned a lot and know that I still have a hell of a lot to learn.

The title of this blog, Living More With Less, is more relevant than ever to me. I will talk more about my financial situation later on, but the fact of the matter is that I'll have to learn to live a lot more with a lot less. That thought sometimes really scares me, while at other times it is actually inspiring. Let's just hope that most of the time, it will be the latter.

Just a short message for now, to find out if I'm alone out there or not ;-) Did you every have to start over at some point in your life? And how did you manage to do that?

My Focus For February

In order to achieve my 52 goals, I decided to work with focus areas; one theme for one month. Last month, I choose 'Home'. Since that was still a little general, I decided to be a bit more specific for February. My theme for February will be Money. And more specifically:

- Finish 2011 businesswise (Goal 37)

- Earn more extra money to contribute to my saving goals

Wishlist of totals after February:
Mortgage: €3000 (Goal 1)
Emergency Fund: €500 (Goal 6)
Emergency fund joint account: €600 (Goal 51)
Emergency fund business account: €3000 (Goal 52)

- Stick to the groceries budget of €160 a month (Goal 28)

I've also added tickers for Goals 51 and 52 to my goal page, in order to visualise my progress.

What's your plan for February?

Zero-based-budgetting works!

I've tried a bit of zero-based-budgetting this month, and I'm very pleased to say that it works! Usually, if I received for example a payment of 90 euro's, I would put some money towards savings, and keep the rest in my account. Usually, that meant that it would go somewhere, I'd use it on groceries or whatever. Now, I first checked the amount, then I decided how much I wanted to put in several savings accounts. The outcome had to be 0, so there wouldn't be any money left for mindless spending, unless I decided it was supposed to be used for that.

I've done this for three weeks now, and have been able to save much more than I usually do, even though I thought I was quite the saver already. I think it also helped that I combined this with sticking with my grocery budget. Anyway, I will continue using this method next month, looking forward to the results!

Have you ever tried zero-based-budgetting?

Renovating or saving?

We've been renovating for almost three years now, and it will probably be well in 2013 before everything is finished. That's not just a time issue, but also a money issue; we do everything from savings, and we don't really have any savings anymore.

So right now, I'm kind of wondering what would be best: continue, or stop for a while and save some money.

Pro's and con's for continuing:
+ We'll finish sooner
- We have to continue to live from day to day, depleting whatever savings we have left, etc.
- We might have to compromise, which we don't really like

Pro's and con's for stopping:
+ We can save more money
- It takes longer
- If the pressure of having no money is not really present anymore, it might even cost us more as well.

What would you do, and why?

Work and new kitchen

Last week has been a busy week and this weekend probably won't be any different. But I'm not complaining (oh, I am, but that's just because of the workload), it's great to have so much work during a crisis, which is what we're at now, if I read the news correctly.

Anyway, I do have some great news to share :-) Last summer, we renovated a part of the house that turned into a great relaxing space for me, and only one thing is still lacking: a small kitchen/counter with a sink and tap, so I can make my tea upstairs, without having to go to the kitchen. Lazy, I know, but when BF is not at home, me and the cat often just sit upstairs, since that's much cosier if it's just us. We didn't get to installing it, because we had other (financial) priorities. But today, BF told me he had saved up some money and I could use that for my new kitchen! I might even get a discount, but I'm not sure about that yet.

So if I don't feel like working, I just dream a little about my kitchen, and get on with it, since I can't use it if I'm too busy working :-)

How's your weekend?

2012 - 2016 : My 5 Year Plan

Having goals helps to achieve something. If you never set goals, you are lucky if you get somewhere halfway. While I've created many (52) goals for 2012, I did not really think about the longterm. However, Michelle from Making Sense of Cents inspired me to think about a 5 year plan, and so far, I've come up with this:

2012
• Pay off €10,000 in mortgage debt
• Create a small emergency fund of €1,000
• Build towards an emergency fund of €21,000 (€3,000)
• Focus on renovating and decluttering
• Finish the rest of my 52 goals

2013
• Finish renovating
• Build towards an emergency fund of €21,000 (total €10,000)
• Pay off €11,000 in mortgage debt
• Save €1,500 for retirement

2014
• Pay off €16,000 in mortgage debt
• Complete emergency fund of €21,000
• Save €3,000 for retirement

2015
• Pay off €16,000 in mortgage debt
• Save €5,000 for retirement

2016
• Pay off €16,000 in mortgage debt
• Save €6,000 for retirement

And somewhere along the way:
• Take another great holiday to the US (costs approx. €3,000 per person)
• New car for BFF (costs approx. €8,000 + trade in of old car)
• Get a greenhouse (I've seen a real beauty, but it is €1,100...)
• Work less, earn more

I plan on checking this 5 Year plan every year, so I can adjust it. If we haven't finished renovating in 2014, or finish early, it impacts other financial goals.

Do you have a 5-year plan?