Ever Thought Of Working As An Agent For The KGB?

Have you ever seen that TV commercial that advertises a service where you can text message a question, any question, and receive a timely answer? Well, this service is provided by KGB. IIIII have just recently signed up as a Secret Agent for this company. I havn't began working yet, but I'm midway through the hiring process. This seems like it could be a legitimate way of making money!

KGB pays its members on a per-answer, to a question basis. As of now, the rate is 10 cents per answer. To become a member, you must start by taking the Secret Agent test, which took me a few times to pass. It can be taken here http://kgb.com/index. After that, you will be allowed to apply for the position, pick your preferred hours, and then begin training. Working for this company requires a 6.5 hour/week minimum work time, which isn't too bad considering there are 168 hours in a week!

In the coming weeks, I will post how my experience as a full fledged secret agent has been!

http://kgb.com/index

Update on the Battle against smoking

Its been a little over a month since the last time I've posted. For the past month, I've experienced a somewhat long bout of a lack of motivation. Slowly, I feel I'm becoming myself again, so the posting WILL resume!

However, I just wanna let ya know about my plans of quitting smoking, and how it has gone. As I said in the last post, I got that drug "Chantix" from my doctor, which is a smoke-cessation aid. It has proven to be extremely effective for me. While I have occasionally had a few cigarettes a week, I have NOT bought one pack of cigarettes since january 10th! It has been a hard few months and has felt like FOREVER, but I plan on sticking with this. Wish me luck!!

Ever Heard Of IFW?

Thought I went missing did ya!? Nope, it just took me a little while to get adjusted to the dorm life once again. Anyways, I have recently stumbled upon a very interesting way to make a few dollars on the Internet. Recently, (or perhaps for quite sometime) people have profited through the use of “Incentivized Freebie Websites.” Veterans of these websites shorten the name to IFW.

First, I must explain how these websites function before I explain how money is to be made. These “IFW” websites are paid by other companies to advertise for them. These companies offer the IFW website a certain amount of money, for a certain amount of “leads.” From here, the IFW takes a portion of that money received from the company and offers it as a prize. In order to win this price, an individual must sign up for that paying companies service (In most cases, it is a free or inexpensive trial). Along with this, the individual must refer other individuals to sign up. When the original person gains enough “referrals,” the IFW then gives away the price.

From this explanation, one can see that the IFW website profits from the extra cash from the companies, the companies receive the subscriptions it seeks, and the individual received the price from the IFW website. What about the people that the individual refers? They are paid a portion of the price that is received from the IFW. This way, EVERYBODY PROFITS.

Have you heard of Project Payday? Project Payday claims that by becoming a member, they will let you in on a BIG secret way to make money. That BIG secret way of making money has been explained above! Project Payday, in my own opinion, offers the consumer absolutely nothing that they can’t find and research themselves.

Give it a try if you are interested. To get started, sign up at http://www.freelunchroom.com , where you can match up with people to complete these offers. One Warning however, Carefully research the company you are signing up for to make sure they are a legitimate company. Also, remember to cancel before your trial subscription is up. If you would like some more info, or would like to do this with myself, send me an email. I’m definitely no pro, but I have a pretty good grasp on it.

When Traditional Budgeting Fails Us

I have spend a great deal of time researching the various methods of setting up a budget. One thing, that I have found in common between all of them, is they are all based around strict percentages. Although this may function flawlessly for the majority of the population that have a consistent cashflow, I believe that this method completely fails us undergrads.

Most of us do not have a steady job that provides a consistent paycheck. Speaking for myself, my paycheck runs anywhere between $200 and $399 every two-weeks. If I was to use a traditional budgeting template, which is based on percentages, I would many times not have enough money to survive until the next paycheck, which is two weeks away. Is there a solution?

I have constructed a new type of budgeting method! This method will include some of the traits of traditional budgeting, but new ideas will be introduced, to help cater towards inconsistent life of the college-aged population. Continue reading for the explanation and methodogy behind my "invention."

1. Realize how much you spend, on day-to-day purchases and spending. (for recreational purposes)
2. Realize what is the bare minimum amount of money you will need to sustain yourself until the next paycheck.
3. Realize how much money will be required to pay bills this pay period

Once these are complete, implementation of my budget tactic will then begin.

1. Open an ING Direct account
2. Once opened, create 2 more sub-accounts. The first should be an electric orange checking named Bills, the second should be an account named savings, and the third account shall be named Investment.

With all of this set in place, you just have to wait until you get paid. When you get paid, follow these steps in strict order.

1. Pay off any bills/debt that have accrued first.
2. Fund your "spending account," and once funded, realize that this is your only source of "fun" money until your next paycheck.
3. with the remaining balance from your check, deposit it equally between a savings account and an investment account.

For step#3, I recommend depositing all of the remaining money into a savings account until you have enough in their sustain yourself for 2-months should anything prevent you from working. Once you hit that mark, begin to divide it equally between savings and investments.

Personally, once I hit my 2-month savings mark, I would cut down my savings to 25%, and put 75% towards investments. Remember, at our age, we have many years to sit on investments. Although they may drop significantly sometimes, we have the benefit of having time on our hands. We can weather the storm until our investments become profitable again. It has been proven that on average, the stock market has made a return on investment of 10% annually.

In conclusion, I cannot guarantee the success of this type of budgeting technique, however, I will give it a try and I will report back on my success or unsuccess.