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2017 Make More Money Challenge - Tracking Log

8K views 85 replies 7 participants last post by  MsMarieH 
#1 ·
In 2014, I did my first Make More Money Challenge and made almost $15K in extra income.
In 2015, I made over $40K in extra income.
In 2016, I made over $56K in extra income.

All of that was in addition to my full time day job.

Imagine what you could do with extra money coming in every month - how much less stressful your life could be, how much more good you could do with charity, how much faster your debt could be paid off, how quickly your savings balance might rise...

For 2017, I am setting a goal for myself of $60K in extra income. I'm going to have to do everything I did in prior years, PLUS!!!

I have several ideas for additional revenue streams. I just need to take ACTION on them.

Here's the background for anyone who wishes to join me.

We do a lot of focusing on this site on reducing our expenses and spending less, especially on frivolous items. This is obviously wonderful!

However, I think we also should give some thought to making more money. I'm throwing out a challenge for all of you to join me in actively bringing in more money. This thread is for tracking your efforts to bring in additional income in any way you can (providing services, selling things, etc.). I don't want you to just think about what you could possibly someday eventually maybe do (get my point here?). I want you to DO IT or at least make a real effort!!! This is the place to record the ACTIONS you take towards making more money and the income generated.

You can set a goal for a specific dollar amount each month or you can just leave that open ended. It's up to you. You can try for as much or as little as you like.

If you need ideas for things you can do, search the site. There are LOTS of threads on how to make extra money.

Anyone in with me? I would love the company. Your goal can be as small as you like (say $50 a month) or as big as you want (replacing your full time income so you can quit your job).
 
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#29 ·
My goals are somewhat more modest than some people on here since right now I'm focusing on my baby and then will be returning to work full-time. But, my goal is to make an extra $60 a week tutoring once I go back to work (that's one tutoring session a week) and currently I am aiming to earn $20 a week on mechanical turk!
 
#30 · (Edited)
LG, every goal is personal. A baby is a clearly a priority worth focusing on. :) I think $20 a week is a good starting point. Welcome to the challenge.

My challenge has been going great this year. Passed $8K for year to date income. So far my income milestones are about two weeks ahead of last year and I haven't really gotten into my better income earning months yet. Woo hoo!

2017 Make More Money Challenge

February 2017 Total: $4,187.53 Earned to Date (Goal: $3,000)
 
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#31 ·
Thank you, Ms.Marie. I actually surpassed my goal and made $24 this week on Mturk! I only have time to work on there when the baby is napping and I'm not doing dishes, laundry, or cooking! I've also been saving a lot of money at the grocery store with coupons, so that's something, too!
Congrats on doing so well on your challenge! How are you making your extra cash?
 
#32 ·
I make the extra money by teaching study groups to prepare adult students for a few different certifications and then providing educational webinars and seminars for recertification points after they are certified. I really enjoy it because I can decide how much or how little time I am willing to put into it. I do it from home by webinar. I come home from my full time day job, eat dinner with my husband, and then go upstairs to my home office to lead the study groups or webinars, which are generally 1-2 hours long. So there is no commute, no dress code, I see hubby every night, etc. I do one Saturday morning webinar every other month, but otherwise keep most of my weekends free. It's grown sufficiently that I make as much with this part time business as my full time day job. I have several ideas for expanding my revenue streams to increase my income (but just have limited amounts of hours to implement the ideas). If I lost my day job, I would just segueway into focusing on this part time business full time. I suspect I could probably double my income relatively easily.

FEBRUARY GRAND TOTAL: $5,259.25

In March so far, I have made $1,471.84, which puts me over $11K for year to date income. I'm really pleased with my progress. Income this month is coming from three upcoming study groups, a March webinar and a March seminar. I'm also holding two free webinars (one this month, one next) to build up names on my email list.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

March 2017 Total: $1,471.84 Earned to Date (Goal: $3,000)
 
#33 ·
March is coming along nicely. :D

Got a bunch more signups today following an email to my list.

Income milestones are still running about two weeks ahead of last year.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

March 2017 Total: $2,332.43 Earned to Date (Goal: $3,000)
 
#34 ·
Blew past my goal for the month. Income milestones are still running about two weeks ahead of last year. Let's hope that keeps up.

March has been a terrific month. :D

2017 Make More Money Challenge

March 2017 Total: $5,472.48 Earned to Date (Goal: $3,000)
 
#35 ·
As Maxwell Smart would say, missed $7K by "that much". That is quite all right though. It was a heck of a month. 2017 has been a fantastic year so far. :D

March Grand Total: $6,952.71

2017 Grand Total Year to Date: 16,521.84

April should be a good month. Income will come from: a speaking engagement (will be paid in May though), payment of my class teaching, my April webinar, April seminar, two study groups (one of which is my big one) that start in May, and maybe another study group if I open registration on it. I'm going to set my goal higher than usual at $5,000 for the month, but I think that is realistic.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

April 2017 Total: $0.00 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
#36 ·
April is coming along steadily. I expect the last few weeks to bring in a higher amount of money.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

April 2017 Total: $753.78 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
#38 ·
April has been coming along nicely. I am less than $200 from making $20K in 2017 with my side business. It has really been a blessing.

I've got two checks coming for a total of close to $3K, but I won't count it until they are in hand.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

April 2017 Total: $3,323.92 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
#39 ·
Woo hoo!!!! Got a student this morning who tipped the balance.

$20,000 in my 2017 MM$ challenge!!!

2017 Make More Money Challenge

April 2017 Total: $3,517.52 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
#40 ·
Sent out my email this morning. Got a few more signups. That brings me past $4K for the month (barely).

2017 Make More Money Challenge

April 2017 Total: $4,000.92 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
#41 ·
SWEEEET!!!

1) Received a check for a class I taught.

2) Exam results came out yesterday for my big study group. Had a flurry of postings on social media and my professional association forum with people sharing that they had passed and promoting that my study group was a huge help. End result? Got a bunch of signups over the last two days.

That blows away my monthly goal for April and brought me past $24K year to date income. So I made close to $4K in two days!!!

2017 Make More Money Challenge

April 2017 Total: $7,852.43 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
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#43 ·
What a fantastic month. I'm super happy with April's income.

April Grand Total: $8,943.66

May's income will come from stragglers to my Word group that starts tomorrow, my May webinar, my June seminar I will open registration on, the PowerPoint study group I will open registration on shortly, and my BIG study group that starts May 24. Plus I should receive the check for the speaking engagement last month. The month my big study group starts is usually a very good month for income, so I'm setting my base goal high at $5,000 this month.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

May 2017 Total: $734.96 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
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#45 ·
Little over a week in to May and I've earned over $3300. Have I mentioned lately that I really like my little part time side business? :D

It gets harder and harder to go to my day job. I keep thinking - I am making more part time than I am with my full time job. Why don't I just quit and jump into the side business full time??? But the income can be feast or famine at times. It's nice having the regular weekly paycheck of the day job. Still... once that debt gets all paid off, and especially once a little cushion gets built up in savings, I'll be thinking about making the jump more seriously. So many positives I can think of, so few negatives...

2017 Make More Money Challenge

May 2017 Total: $3,304.32 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
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#46 ·
Got a few more signups for my study group and May webinar. I expect the next two weeks to be fairly busy as it starts May 24.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

May 2017 Total: $3,845.98 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
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#47 ·
Having a great May. I love my little side business. I keep thinking more and more about just jumping over to it full time. Passed my monthly goal. Passed $32K for year to date income.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

May 2017 Total: $6,980.32 Earned to Date (Goal: $5,000)
 
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#48 ·
MAY GRAND TOTAL: $7,528.54

June income will be lower than May's. I expect it to come from the April speaking engagement I haven't yet been paid for (supposed to come in next week or so), the June seminar, June webinar, small study group, and stragglers to big study group. I expect this to be a lighter month all around.

Got a couple hundred in June already, which brings me past $33K for year to date income. I am more than halfway to my annual income goal, despite it being only 5 months in to the year. Woo hoo!


2017 Make More Money Challenge

June 2017 Total: $222.43 Earned to Date (Goal: $4,000)
 
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#49 ·
Congratulations. :vs_rocking_banana:
I completed surveys for gift cards. May total was $45. So far in June $5. I use the GCs to keep the grocery bills down. Sometimes free products are involved. A few months ago - aluminum foil! Hard to figure out why they thought their foil was new & improved.....
 
#50 ·
Woo hoo dircpa! Every little bit helps!

June has been lower than my prior months this year, but that's on me. I haven't been consistent this month in getting out my marketing emails and promotions. Really makes a difference. I have several events scheduled over the next week though so expect several more signups. I've gone past $34K for the year to date income.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

June 2017 Total: $1,371.27 Earned to Date (Goal: $4,000)
 
#51 ·
June is still low and that's still on me. I haven't been consistent with my mailings.

Then on top of it, I realized that the webinar I had scheduled this month is one I offered last year and had totally forgotten about. Sheesh... Attendance was lower than usual but now I know why. Don't think I'll hit my goal for the month, but that's ok. It's still a decent month.

2017 Make More Money Challenge

June 2017 Total: $2,394.16 Earned to Date (Goal: $4,000)
 
#52 ·
@MsMariett - I just wanted to say that your accomplishments in this thread are SOOO inspiring! You're killing it! I wish I could be as successful with a part-time online job. I do have an MBA, but have yet to use it fully. I want to own my business, but with working full-time not in my field, it's difficult to want to work on a computer when I get home, or on weekends. Eventually, I want to start an etsy shop and sell hand-dyed yarn, run a hobby farm, etc. But for now, like others on here, I will mturk. I've used that site for a few years, but only made $100 so far. My goal for now is $1,000 and once I hit that I'll increase it from there. We are saving towards our Disneyland trip in October. Thru our normal full-time jobs, we bring in an extra $3,500 a month, but I only want to include income made from mturk/Bing/Swagbucks/Perk - just the online income. As June is almost over, I will join in on July 1st.
 
#54 ·
Thanks Aliciaknits! Welcome to the challenge. I am so glad to have more company on the journey. I hope you make time to work on your side business. You'll never know if it is has potential until you actually start doing it! :D Maybe you could just start small with it and see how it goes.

dlrcpa - it's definitely something I have considered in the past with job changes. Commute time, gas costs, public transport, parking, clothing, etc. are all factors that can add up quickly. Hubby and I realized with his last job (which thank goodness is in the past), we were spending about $500 every month on gas, parking, tolls etc. It really added up. Congratulations on the new job! I hope you love it.
 
#53 ·
My new job started this week. It is a toss-up. I get a higher hourly pay rate but am spending more time commuting. So my gross pay for the month will increase (same hours X higher rate) although I'm spending more total time to earn it. Also have to pay for parking and increased gas costs. Everything else should be about the same. We'll see how it goes.
 
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