Comments on: Spend Less Than You Earn (3/365)

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:31:12 +0000

Um… Sorry; somehow my comment got published to the wrong post.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:11:33 +0000

I appreciate this article, but the problem I’m having is that if your job requires you to have a car and nice clothes and meals out, you still get A CAR AND NICE CLOTHES AND MEALS OUT– the car and clothes don’t disappear when you get off work, and the food isn’t tasteless simply because it’s work-related.

After calculating in the extra commute by bus to work, I’m making $13/hour… But I can’t afford a car, nice clothes, or meals out. So who was financially better off, really?

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:32:04 +0000

But having agreed with Maureen’s first paragraph, I will disagree with her second. Not that working on your career is a bad idea either, but building your career-related skills in the hope of getting a raise or a promotion is something that can take months or years to pay off – if it ever pays off at all. If you’re in an immediate financial crisis where you’re spending more than you earn, working on your career is perhaps not the first (and certainly not the only) step you should be taking.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:11:23 +0000

I thought Trent’s Mechanical Turk analysis found that the tasks typically pay less than minimum wage, but sometimes not *that* much less. I can see how it would make sense for some people, if they have small chunks of time that are otherwise being wasted, and if just a few extra dollars would make a big difference for them.

Another way to get some extra money coming in is to do volunteer work in exchange for “in kind” compensation. There are two food co-ops near me where people can volunteer in exchange for store credit. The “pay rate” is minimum wage, but it seems like it would be much more pleasant to work for one of them than to work a typical minimum-wage job.

I agree with Maureen, though, that selling assets is not really earning more money. If you sell off your unwanted stuff without fixing the underlying problem of spending more than you earn, then before too long you’ll be right back where you started, except you won’t have any more stuff to sell. (To be clear, there are many reasons why selling unwanted stuff can be a good idea. I just would not have classified it under “earning more money.”)

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:31:10 +0000

retireby40, I thought Trent tried out Mechanical Turk (or something similar) a while back and said, in general, it wasn’t worth the time invested…
The concept is still a good one, find another income source.

By: retirebyforty

retirebyforty — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:28:49 +0000

Spend less than you earn is my first rule too.
Mechanical turk looks interesting, but the pay rate is so low. 6 cents for 10 minutes? Is that really worth the time? Wouldn’t it be better to go deliver pizza for a couple of hours?

By: Maureen

Maureen — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:31:23 +0000

Selling the stuff in your closet will give you a one-time infusion of income. It is really an exercise in cutting your losses (money already spent), not increasing your earnings.

To increase your earnings you would be better off focusing on your career. Perhaps you could ask for more responsibilities and a raise at work. Learn new skills related to your career. Work towards a promotion.