One a Penny, Two a Penny: 4 Tips on Saving

No, I’m not going to talk about Hot Cross Buns.

I’ve been a busy, busy girl. Busy doing what, you ask? Busy making that money. Haha, okay, before you start thinking I’m a pimp (I’m not!), let’s have a quick update on what I’ve been doing!

- Started my permanent part-time position at a prestigious research firm a month ago
- Working on assignments has always been a, well, let’s leave my French out of this
- I’ve been trying to save some money on the side for future projects and I’m so excited to share the tips I’ve learned along the way on how to save better!

SAVINGS

Saving is no easy treat, ladies and gentlemen. In a country like Singapore where everything is so expensive, it’s really hard. I may be working but half my pay goes to eating food outside, transport and my phone bill and that’s just sad. So I thought, what the hey, since I use the Internet so much, let me see if there’s any additional cash I can make by just sitting in front of the computer (legal ways, of course).

After a few days of research (Google is God) and after speaking to a few friends, here are some ways of making money online that I would like to share with you guys:

#1 – Blogshop
This is a pretty obvious way. I started Cloz8 Collections a long time ago and although it’s slowing down, I see many people who are jumping on this bandwagon.

The difficulty level of making money online via a blogshop is probably higher than making money using other methods, as firstly, you need to purchase products and there are a lot of nitty gritty involved. Stock taking, marketing, etc, but there really is no greater feeling than the joy you get when a product is sold.

In addition, this can generate from hundreds to thousands of dollars in a month, depending on your network and product.

#2 – Selling Ads on your Blog
A simple method that earns a small token to help you manage your blog. Ads can be sold at different prices depending on popularity of your blog, size of the ad, monthly fees, pay-per-clicks, or more.

If you’re a newbie to blogging, don’t expect huge income from this, but if you put in a lot more effort and push the word out, then just sit back and enjoy the ride.

#3 – Online Survey Panels
Working in a research firm has made me a little wee research crazy. In addition, I’m even taking a research module in school now. Did someone say overload? Sigh.

But, it’s all good. Because in this “research craze” that’s happening to me right now, I found a few links for survey panels online that allow free registrations. Some of them are from huge prestigious companies like Your Voice, and some were small Facebook start ups like Meca Valley. I have obviously not generated any income yet, because I have not participated in that many surveys, but they seem legitimate and I hope to get more surveys to score more points. I suggest trying this out! There’s really nothing to lose.

Also try: Mystery shopper panels.

#4 – Affiliate Marketing
I have been reading quite a bit on affiliate marketing, and although I have not tried it out, this looks very interesting. Although it is a worry that there are many spams out there, I found a few legitimate ones. For example:

Amazon.com (Amazon) launched its associate program in July 1996: Amazon associates could place banner or text links on their site for individual books, or link directly to the Amazon home page. – Source

Note: While researching on ways to make an extra buck, I was approached by a popular “MLM” company’s representative. I rejected the offer as I don’t think my network is big enough and selling products that I know don’t impress the group of people around me might not be such a good idea. Consider this option if you have a big network of friends and family members who are willing to try new types of products, because this can garner you a lot of returns.

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Just remember that, whatever you do, try to keep it safe and legal. It’s easy to fall for scams so make sure you are not paying for any online survey panels when registering, because these things are supposed to be free. Affiliate marketing can be very tricky, but try to ask around, maybe a few friends may already know reliable resources.

And while you’re at it, set a goal for yourself, aim to save a certain amount of money by the end of this year. A lot of people I know are not interested/bothered to move a finger after their 9 to 5, but seriously, with so many opportunities out there, you don’t have to do that much, and honestly, has an extra dollar ever hurt anyone?

Just remember, nothing in life comes for free. Registrations to these sites can be done at no cost, but you still need to input your time and effort (and brain cells) to generate returns for yourself.

Oh, and never forget the The Piggy Bank. It’s always there to help us in rainy days.

All the best!

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Do you have any other ways of generating income online? Share your thoughts, ideas and resources.