My moneymaking journey...

[Queen Jess]

Bad night with the little one, but on the plus side I had lots of time and just a phone for company.. means I have already achieved one goal today and am now testing new sites/apps - new list below.

Sites/apps under test:
1. Testable minds
2. Instagc
3. PollPass (already on £10, cashed out £5)
4. Quick thoughts

GOALS!
Surveys:
1. Swagbucks - 141/400 points
2. Global testmarket - 2 surveys*
3. Valued opinions - 2/4 surveys*
4. Panelbase/Newvista/YouGov - 1 survey

Other:
5. Do a blog post

*I find counting surveys less stressful than counting money for goals since the amount you get can vary.

Running survey/tasks total ready to cash out in June: £5.80

 

[Queen Jess]

Well I tried very hard today, but I just ran out of surveys I could actually complete! The full list I wrote up in my previous posts was helpful though as I could just run through them from top to bottom rather than wasting time thinking about what I could do where..

Going to tweak my goals a little bit...

GOALS!
Surveys:
1. Prolific Academic £10
2. Global testmarket / Panelbase / Newvista - 2 surveys
3. Swagbucks - 165/400 points
4. Valued opinions - 2 surveys

Other:
5. MB £0 (includes wiping the negative £17.99 for PA membership)

 

[Queen Jess]

I have realised that if I add in the survey earnings I stored up and didn't cash out in April, my April earnings are actually the same as the prior month. That is excellent news as I switched to a stress free method in April and fully expected a big dip in my income because of it.

Looks like I will be paying for the whole of my garden project from extra income earned now and no need to dip into my savings

More things to save up for after the garden project although they are slot smaller in value. Also need to start doing more mortgage overpayments. My plan is to always make sure my monthly payment decreases when I fix again in just over a year. As interest rates have gone up since I fixed last time, it'll need a bit more overpaying this time.

 

[Queen Jess]

Update for this morning (two goals met!). Decided to go back to monetary values for the surveys as I find it hard to remember what surveys I have done when I get screened out so much!

Another not great night, but on the plus side I did a lot of surveys (although not necessarily the ones on this list!).

GOALS!
Surveys:
1. Prolific Academic £10
2. Global testmarket - 365 / 575 points
3. Swagbucks - 357/400 points
4. Valued opinions - 2 surveys
5. Valued Opinions £15.25 / £20.50

Other:
6. MB £0 (includes wiping the negative £17.99 for PA membership)
7. Get 10 photos accepted by Stockimo (2/10)

Running survey/tasks total ready to cash out in June: £5.80

 

[Queen Jess]

Already met one goal! Amending for a new one

GOALS!
Surveys:
1. Prolific Academic £10
2. Global testmarket - 365 / 575 points
3. Swagbucks - 400 points
4. Valued opinions - 2 surveys
5. Valued Opinions £15.25 / £20.50
6. Instagc - 197 / 400 points

Other:
7. MB £0 (includes wiping the negative £17.99 for PA membership)
8. Get 10 photos accepted by Stockimo (2/10)

Running survey/tasks total ready to cash out in June: £5.80

 

[Queen Jess]

Making very small progress at the moment, but progress nonetheless...

GOALS!
Surveys:
1. Prolific Academic £2.66/£10
2. Global testmarket - 365 / 575 points
3. Swagbucks - 400 points
4. Valued opinions - 2 surveys
5. Valued Opinions £17.50/£20.50
6. Instagc - 400 points
7. Swagbucks 493 / 800 points

Other:
8. MB £0 (includes wiping the negative £17.99 for PA membership)
9. Get 10 photos accepted by Stockimo (4/10)

Running survey/tasks total ready to cash out in June: £5.80

 

[Queen Jess]

Another goal down!

GOALS!
Surveys:
1. Prolific Academic £2.66/£10
2. Global testmarket - 365 / 575 points
3. Swagbucks - 400 points
4. Valued opinions - 2 surveys
5. Valued Opinions £20.50
6. Instagc - 400 points
7. Swagbucks 493 / 800 points

Other:
9. MB £0 (includes wiping the negative £17.99 for PA membership)
10. Get 10 photos accepted by Stockimo (4/10)
11. MB £40

Running survey/tasks total ready to cash out in June: £25.36

 

[Queen Jess]

Another goal down thanks to my April Swagbucks bonus. Feeling a bit lazy today... did a tiny amount of MB and then I think I'm going to go out and enjoy the sunshine! (A bit of a shame my garden is a no go area at the moment until it's finished!)

GOALS!
Surveys:
1. Prolific Academic £2.66/£10
2. Global testmarket - 407 / 575 points
3. Swagbucks - 400 points
4. Valued opinions - 2 surveys
5. Valued Opinions £20.50
6. Instagc - 400 points
7. Swagbucks 800 points
8. Instagc 800 points

Other:
10. MB £0 (includes wiping the negative £17.99 for PA membership)
11. Get 10 photos accepted by Stockimo (4/10)
12. MB £40

 

[Queen Jess]

I think I need to update my listing of survey sites as my top 5 need to change:

My top survey sites for me are:
1. PA
2. Swagbucks
3. Instagc
4. Panelbase
5. Valued Opinions

Ones I will do as and when I get time (so may not be on the list per se):
1. Newvista
2. YouGov
3. Global testmarket
4. Branded surveys
5. OnePoll
6. Populus
7. i-Say
8. Qmee
9. Vypr (will probably ditch it when I next cash out)
10. OnePulse (to get rid of if I ever cash out!)

Ones under testing at the moment:
1. Testable minds
2. PollPass
3. Quick thoughts

 

[Queen Jess]

Having the weekend off at the moment. Having one of those moments where you wonder what the point is...

So far I am concluding my balance is all wrong and I need to do less money making and more time spent on life. Somehow I still need to challenge myself/keep myself motivated, but in less time... I am thinking of maybe making myself a little routine as a daily goal..

Still thinking about it, but watch this space! Also thinking at the same time about going part time still.. just struggling to make any decisions at the moment.

 

[Jon]

Having the weekend off at the moment. Having one of those moments where you wonder what the point is...

So far I am concluding my balance is all wrong and I need to do less money making and more time spent on life. Somehow I still need to challenge myself/keep myself motivated, but in less time... I am thinking of maybe making myself a little routine as a daily goal..

Still thinking about it, but watch this space! Also thinking at the same time about going part time still.. just struggling to make any decisions at the moment.

I’ve been there before when I used to do surveys / mystery shopping / task app / 63336 / leapforce all at the same time.

Is there a base line figure you need to earn each month where you could then stop earning online for the rest of the month?

 

[Queen Jess]

I’ve been there before when I used to do surveys / mystery shopping / task app / 63336 / leapforce all at the same time.

Is there a base line figure you need to earn each month where you could then stop earning online for the rest of the month?

I'm not really sure and that's part of the problem. Currently I am fine without any extra cash, but I really want to work less, retire early and pay off my mortgage - so want cash for pension and mortgage overpayments. My mortgage though has 23 years left on it, so a long way to go and anything I put to it seems tiny really.

Then if I did decide to go part time then obviously I would have a lot less cash, but am struggling to decide this too.

Just lots of indecision. This is why I was starting to think I will give myself bits of time to earn money in and try to not think about it too much since anything will help. Lots more to think about..

 

[Queen Jess]

I'm not really sure and that's part of the problem. Currently I am fine without any extra cash, but I really want to work less, retire early and pay off my mortgage - so want cash for pension and mortgage overpayments. My mortgage though has 23 years left on it, so a long way to go and anything I put to it seems tiny really.

Then if I did decide to go part time then obviously I would have a lot less cash, but am struggling to decide this too.

Just lots of indecision. This is why I was starting to think I will give myself bits of time to earn money in and try to not think about it too much since anything will help. Lots more to think about..

Or maybe I should accept less cash from surveys, MB etc and really limit myself here to try to build up better potential income streams like blogging etc.. hmmm..

 

[Queen Jess]

Or maybe I should accept less cash from surveys, MB etc and really limit myself here to try to build up better potential income streams like blogging etc.. hmmm..

Actually I think what I could do with is something between £1,000 and £2,000 a month, but not sure that's very realistic..

 

[Jon]

Or maybe I should accept less cash from surveys, MB etc and really limit myself here to try to build up better potential income streams like blogging etc.. hmmm..

See when I lost 63336 and then Leapforce I was like OH CRAP but I’m reality that forced me to create a revenue stream I could 100% control (ie blogging) but I had the backup of also being in full time work so it didn’t matter if it all went belly up

 

[Queen Jess]

So... after lots of thought on this subject over the weekend and trying and failing to use my crystal ball to predict the future , I have decided to take a slightly different turn with money making.

Given that at the moment, I would be able to survive based on my current salary with no extra funds coming in, I am going to concentrate on where I think I may end up in the future. I definitely want to do less and earn more (who doesn't?!), but I also always thought of extra money making as a temporary thing (all be it temporary over years) to get me to where I want to be and then I can stop, or if I want I can still dabble.

I suspect in reality I would still dabble a bit to get those nice extras in life.. nice holidays etc. There always seems to be something else that needs paying for.

So as I have wiggle room at the moment, I am still going to try and earn money as I have another project to pay for (£2,700ish to go!), but concentrate on a few longer term incomes. I will definitely cull some of the annoying/less profitable survey sites and then will concentrate on new ventures: blogging, selling photos and selling t-shirt designs.

All mortgage overpayments are currently on hold whilst I figure this out, but if I start making money from these longer term ventures then this can go to the mortgage overpayments whilst I use the other items to still fund some projects so I at least have a bit to show for my work!

I am sure I will have other changes to make in time.. I like to make changes otherwise I get bored! So I think goals for this week are as follows.. as each one is met they will get replaced with a new one. I'm still dabbling with Swagbucks and Instagc in the background.

GOALS!
Short term
1. Vypr - get to cash out and then I can delete the app 8460 / 10,000 points
2. Prolific - £10

Longer term
3. Write a new blog post
4. Get 10 photos accepted on Stockimo (4/10)
5. Get 15 t-shirt designs uploaded (can't remember how many I had... need to check!)

 

[Queen Jess]

Had a bit of a brainwave earlier whilst trying to fight with my computer to create a logo for a t-shirt. I realised that the topic of my logo should actually be a new blog online and I instantly had a few ideas on what the blog could develop into.

However, I think it could be a lot of work and want the skills one of my friends had. Just tried to pitch it to them and not sure they are keen... could be a work in progress...

 

[Jon]

Had a bit of a brainwave earlier whilst trying to fight with my computer to create a logo for a t-shirt. I realised that the topic of my logo should actually be a new blog online and I instantly had a few ideas on what the blog could develop into.

However, I think it could be a lot of work and want the skills one of my friends had. Just tried to pitch it to them and not sure they are keen... could be a work in progress...

ooooooh tell us more!!

 

[Queen Jess]

ooooooh tell us more!!

It's very early days so gonna keep it under wraps for now. Let's just say I already had a hobby with various contacts etc and realised that there is definitely a gap in the market for an online resource.

Definitely lots of work involved... Going to see if I can plan out a website to see how it might all work first (although I already designed a logo...). If it all seems to work I will start writing content and then set up the site. Fingers crossed as I can see lots of potential with this one. Just needs lots of thought!

 

[Queen Jess]

So quiet on the money making front today. Am working on my blog idea to see if it hasa running value.

Got a consultant (friend) on board too and currently in the early planning stages... Name, logo, website address, overall content plan etc. Hoping to get through most of it this week and if it's all looking good I will start working on design and content.

Other than that I'm really just trying to get vypr up to 10,000 so I can delete it. I'll see what the rest of the week brings.