It All Began When ...

It's hard to believe that I went from a job where I made $31,000 plus an additional $7,800 for "benefits" to being unemployed. The worst part? I was working at a church as an administrative assistant and one day, without any warning, I was told that my job was being cut back to part time and that I would lose my "benefits" pay.  Well, I panicked and left the church to take a full time job as a Human Resources Specialist.  Six months later, on the day that I was leaving for vacation, I was told to turn in my key and not come back - OUCH! That was in October 2014.

In November 2014, I found a job as a pet sitter, which I absolutely love!  I get to work with some great animals and what's even more important, is the owners are great too.  I hardly ever see my boss, but she's there if I need her.  Needless to say, my experience with the church and as a Human Resources Specialist left me feeling hurt and angry and I just don't want to work in an office situation anymore. On a side note, I did reconcile with the Elders at my church and I still attend there.

2015 was an interesting year for me; I'm guessing that I made between $20,000 to $25,000.  I made most of my income as a pet sitter.  Mystery shopping brought in another $1,000; a Craigslist gig netted me around $2300 and some side work at an attorney's office earned me about $2,200.  I had to take out money for taxes, medicare, and social security.  I'll find out when I file my taxes if I set enough aside.

Now, here we are, almost a month into the new year, and I want to see if I can earn more than last year.  I want to try and keep a record of how much I earn from all the options available online and see what's worth it and what's not.  I want to try and focus on those options that will earn me the most so that I don't have to nickel and dime my way to paying my bills.

Thus, this blog - it's an experiment of sorts, to see if an ordinary person like me can really earn a decent living without having to go out and get a "real" job.

Where I'm Starting Out

This is just a brief overview of the websites and IPhone apps that I use on a regular basis and my starting point in 2016.

www.mycokerewards.com      
www.swagbucks.com              
www.mypoints.com                  

Survey Sites:
www.pinecone research.com    
www.zoompanel.com              

Mystery Shopping:
www.trendsource.com/msi
www.marketforce.com
www.intellishop.com

Other Websites:
www.usertesting.com
www.textbroker.com

IPhone Apps:
Checkpoints                        
Shopkick                              
Panel App                          
Ibotta                                  
Walmart Savings Catcher  
Field Agent                        
Receipt Hog                        
SBTV (swagbucks TV)      

	January 1st	February 1st	March 1st	April 1st	May 1st	June 1st	July 1st	August 1st	September 1st	October 1st	November 1st	December 1st
Coke Rewards	213	282	327
Swagbucks	1901*	339	719
My Points	915	1045	1160
Pinecone Research	5109	6009	6909
Zoom Panel	2429	2674	2994
Checkpoints	13427	13749	14081
Shopkick	4252	4362	4362
Panel App	4154	5054	5996
Ibotta	$13.10	$16.10	18.35
Savings Catcher	$1.52	$5.75	8.90
Field Agent	$0.00	$16.77	0.00
Receipt Hog	**	608	1145

*$25 Walmart Gift Card

** $10 Amazaon Gift Card