• Bookkeepers.com: Get 3 free classes and launch your own profitable bookkeeping business!
• Freecash: Play games, download apps, and answer surveys to earn rewards!

The Best Remote Job Sites

1. FlexJobs

2. Working Nomads

3. Upwork

4. Fiverr

5. Remote OK

6. Jobspresso

7. Remotey

8. SolidGigs

9. 99Designs

10. Media Bistro

11. Remotive

12. HubStaff Talent

13. We Work Remotely

14. Remote.Co

15. Skip The Drive

16. Virtual Vocations

17. Angel List

18. Remote4Me

19. Workew

20. Remote Jobs Club

21. Authentic Jobs

22. Dribble

23. Gun.IO

24. Ruby Now

25. LinkedIn

26. Indeed

27. Guru

28. Reddit R/ForHire

29. Your Own Network

Tips For Landing Your Next Remote Job

1. Update your resume before beginning your job hunt
2. Ask your own network for referrals or inside opportunities
3. Consider “upskilling” and take professional development courses to improve in your chosen career
4. Start a digital side hustle that can help you gain experience in your chosen field
5. Practice online interviews with a friend or interview practice service

Final Thoughts:

• How To Earn Money Online For Beginners.
• The Top Skills To Sell Online.

The post 29 Best Remote Job Websites To Boost Your Online Income appeared first on WebMonkey.

In our talk, we brought up how since we started working remotely, setting up shop in a Starbucks or local cafe is much more enjoyable compared to being cooped-up at home.

I'm a proponent of separating your ‘work' space from your ‘home' space, and personally, I now spend more money every month on coffee than at any point in my life. Additionally, most of my coffee budget is spent at Starbucks (can't beat the Blonde roast or their WiFi!)

Now, I've never been a staunch supporter of the whole ‘the reason you're broke is because you buy lattes' mentality since I think it's a tad extreme.

However, as you guys probably know, I absolute?love?cash back rewards or scoring free gift cards when I can.

Since I've been spending so much time at Starbucks these past two months, I decided to break down the most effective methods to get free Starbucks and to have some fun with their rewards.

Now, this isn't going to dramatically change your financial outlook, and I also don't think you should feel guilty for buying coffee occasionally. This is meant to be a fun post designed to score you some free Starbucks gift cards and rewards every now and again so you can splurge (or pass on the fun to someone you know).

As a former Starbucks barista myself, I'm about to let you in on some secrets!

1. Enroll In Starbucks Rewards

Alright, while this might be a bit of a no-brainer for some, enrolling in the Starbucks Rewards Program is hands down the most effective way to drink free Starbucks on a regular basis.

In a nutshell, Starbucks Rewards incentives members to consistently shop at Starbucks by offering them perks, freebies, and the ability to accumulate stars.

The main perks of the Starbucks Rewards Program include:

• Free coffee and tea refills.
• A free Starbucks birthday drink.
• Free food and beverages that can be earned by accumulating stars.

Starbucks Reward members earn?2 stars?for every?$1?they spend at Starbucks. You can also increase how fast you earn stars with Bonus Star games/offers in the Starbucks mobile app, as well as by spending on Double Star Days.

Here's how stars translate into enjoying free Starbucks:

• 25 Stars ($12.50 of spend)?– customize your drink for free.
• 50 Stars?($25 of spend) – free Starbucks coffee, tea, or bakery item.
• 150 Stars?($75 of spend) – free handcrafted drink, breakfast item, or parfait.
• 200 Stars?($100 of spend) – free sandwich, salad, or protein box.
• 400 Stars?($200 of spend) – free bag of Starbucks coffee, cup, or accessory.

These might not seem like the most lucrative rewards. However, if you are a freelancer and treat Starbucks as your office (or if you just like coffee), you can probably earn at least 1-2 free Starbucks drinks each month or save up your points for something more substantial.

2. Use Passive Reward Apps

I've been tinkering around with passive income apps and ways to earn free gift cards for almost two years now, and while this ‘hobby' doesn't break the bank, it is fun to get free rewards every now and again.

The main way I have earned free Starbucks over the past two years has involved using cash back reward apps.

In particular, the Drop app has enabled me to earn a free $5 Starbucks gift card every month or so, and this process takes absolutely zero?effort on my part.

Essentially, Drop allows users to earn reward points for shopping at 5 merchants of their choice (selected from a fairly comprehensive list of partners) and through special offers and rebates.

Once you connect your credit or debt card to Drop's secure app, you automatically earn Drop points for spending at valid stores.

I've chosen Walmart, Uber, Shopper Drug Mart, the LCBO, and Starbucks itself as my reward partners, so I'm actually able to double-dip on how fast I can earn gift cards when I buy coffee every week,

There are plenty of other cash back apps that work on a similar premise, but I've personally had the most success with Drop.

Once you redeem a gift card, all you have to do is add the balance to your Starbucks Reward app and you're good to pay in-store!

Download Drop and start enjoying free Starbucks drinks today!

3. Use Data Collection Apps

If you've been following WebMonkey for a while, you'll know I'm also a fan of installing data collection apps to earn quick and easy passive income.

Running apps like Mobile Performance Meter was a massive part of my phone farming setup, and this simple free app can earn users $36.50/year in PayPal cash just for sitting on their phones.

However, if you're specifically on the hunt for free Starbucks rewards, trying out apps like MobileXpression might be up your alley.

MobileXpression runs in the background of user's phones and collects data regarding cellphone usage and cellular network coverage for marketing companies.

In return, MobileXpression rewards users with credits each consecutive week of run-time that can be cashed in for gift cards to a variety of stores (including Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts).

MobileXpression usually rewards users with a $5 signup bonus, and you can realistically cash out your first $15 gift card within the first month and a half of usage.

Your personal data is amalgamated so your privacy is maintained. However, deciding to monetize your user data is ultimately a personal decision.

Extra Reading – How To Get Free Starbucks Gift Cards.

4. Mistplay

I've mentioned Mistplay in my post on ways to make money playing video games, but this mobile gaming platform is definitely one unique way to enjoy free Starbucks from time to time.

On the Mistplay app (Android only for now), users can earn in-app rewards for downloading and playing select partnered games on their mobile phone. As you accrue points, you can eventually cash them out for a variety of rewards and gift cards to popular merchants like Amazon, Walmart, and Starbucks.

I've used apps like Mistplay in the past, and actually used AppLike when it was around to cash out Amazon cards, so the premise does work.

However, as multiple Mistplay reviews on Reddit reveal, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Mistplay is a great earner for some, but painstakingly slow for other users.

Like other beermoney apps, people are also finding ways to turn this into a semi-passive source of free gift cards:

As you can see, this user runs Mistplay on an idle device and has earned $80 across two different accounts.

If you're looking to take your free Starbucks quest to the next level, I'd recommend Mistplay in your spare time or in idle-mode like this Redditor!

Related Reading – Mistplay App Review.

5. S`More Lockscreen App

If you want to earn an additional $36.50/year or more in Starbucks gift cards, you might want to try the S`more lock screen app.

S`mores is a reward-based Android app that transforms your phone's lock screen into a customizable news portal that displays tailored articles, headlines, and…well…advertisements.

The concept behind S`mores is really that simple: monetize your lock screen with ads and content, and earn $0.10 in points a day for doing so.

You don't have to interact with any sponsored content to earn your $0.10/day, and a single unlock will suffice. You can also complete short surveys or polls if you wish in order to earn more points.

S`more reward points can be redeemed for a variety of gift cards, including Starbucks, making this a straightforward way to drink Starbucks for free.

Yes, S`more is somewhat annoying compared to your traditional lock screen. However, if you have an old phone laying around you can install this app on it (along with apps like Embee Meter and MobileXpression to start a passive earning device without any trouble).

Extra Reading – S`more App Review 2020.

6. Shopkick

I've talked about Shopkick in my post on the ultimate list of gig economy jobs, and in terms of a simple earner, Shopkick is near the top of the list.

Shopkick is sort of like a secret shopper meets cash back rewards platform. On the app, there are several ways to earn, including:

• Walking into specific stores (yes, literally just walking in).
• Scanning barcodes for money.
• Submitting recipts.
• Purchasing sponsored products in-store or online.
• Watching videos on the mobile app.

You won't break the bank with the Shopkick app, but if you live in a major city, you might be able to squeeze out some extra Starbucks money each month by completing simple tasks while you're out and about.

Read our latest Shopkick Review to learn how to maximize your rewards with this app!

Extra Reading – 15 Best Apps Like Shopkick.

7. Microsoft Rewards

If you want to try something other than our Google overlords for a moment and passively earn money in the process, trying out Microsoft Rewards could be a decent option!

Microsoft Rewards is a essentially Bing's user acquisition play. The system allows loyal Bing users to earn reward points for completing a variety of tasks and for using Bing as their search engine, with points being redeemable for a variety of gift cards, sweepstakes entries, and rewards.

There are plenty of ways to earn Microsoft Reward points. Some are as simple as just using the Bing search engine or answering polls, while others involve completing quizzes or even shopping online.

Now, a free $5 Starbucks gift card is currently 6,500 Microsoft Reward Points. Users do gain bonus points for maintaining streaks and consistently using Bing, but 6,500 is still quite a threshold.

Realistically, if all you do is search on Bing (15 points per day) and complete your daily set (involves 3 tasks such as polls or surveys), you can earn roughly 45 points per day. Factoring in bonus streaks, this means you can earn a $5 gift card every?120 days or so.

Personally, this earning rate isn't enough for me to justify switching to Bing.

However, if you like using the Bing search engine or find yourself shopping for Microsoft products and online films, you might as well try out Microsoft Rewards since you can get some decent rebate bonuses.

8. Starbucks Rewards Visa

Alright, if you're truly serious about getting free Starbucks coffee, signing up for the Starbucks Visa Card is your last step to maximize your earnings.

When you become a Starbucks Rewards Visa member, you unlock the following perks:

• 6,500 bonus stars after you spend $500 in the first 3 months of opening your card. This is equivalent to 130 free Starbucks coffees.
• Earn 1 star per $2 you spend at grocery stores, transit, internet, cable, and phone bills.
• Earn up to 3 stars for every $1 spent at Starbucks.
• Earn 1 star for every $4 spent anywhere else.
• Get 8 ‘Barista Picks' per year – so more free food and drink perks.

You can also earn 300 bonus stars when you add money to your Starbucks mobile app using your rewards visa. Additionally, this visa comes with a bunch of other perks such as purchase protection, trip cancellation, and more.

Just note:?there is a $49 annual fee for the Starbucks Rewards Visa.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, none of the tips I listed in this article are going to dramatically change your finances.

Additionally, I don't think you should overly stress about treating yourself to coffee every so often, especially if you use cafes as a workspace rather than spending hundreds a month on renting a shared office.

However, there's no denying that earning free rewards is fun. If you can automate some of your earnings with things like passive apps or credit cards, I think it's a win-win.

Plus, if you're a serious coffee addict and actually buy coffee every day, you are looking at a decent tab. Just check out the yearly latte and brewed coffee chart from my friend Ling at Finsavvy Panda (she also has a great post on ways to get Starbuck for free):

Even a simple act like enrolling in the Starbucks Rewards program or getting their Rewards Visa could make a decent dent in your bill, so take a look at your options and do something that makes financial sense!

Just please, don't hop on to a GPT site and grind out surveys to get free Starbucks gift cards. Trust me, that is not a worthwhile use of time to get some freebies!

Enjoy all the free coffee/perks you can unlock! I'll catch you guys in the next one!

The post 8 Ways To Enjoy Free Starbucks – How To Drink Coffee For Free & Save appeared first on WebMonkey.

It doesn't matter if you want to take a few weeks to bum out on a beach in Bali, backpack through Europe, or explore a part of the world you would normally never see: travel is just awesome.

However, travel is also expensive. In fact, many people go in to debt to afford a vacation or extended leave from work.

While this may seem worth it to some for the sake of fulfilling wanderlust, there are also viable ways to make money while traveling that can help mitigate debt and simultaneously extend travel plans.

So, if you've ever wondered how to make money while traveling, this is the post for you!

Online Ideas to Earn Income While Traveling

Since making money online is generally my preferred method, I'm going to outline several jobs and side hustles you can turn to in order to make money during your travels.

I'm going to make an effort to include jobs that are easy to adjust to, have flexible hours, and are higher paying.

1. Negotiate For Remote Work

Remote jobs are becoming more common as technology improves and employers get used to the idea of a telecommuting workforce.

However, if you're aiming to make money while traveling the world, you'll probably need to pitch the idea to your employer and make some justification…it won't just mysteriously happen overnight.

In my opinion, the easiest way to successfully negotiate for a remote position is to make yourself incredibly valuable for the company you work for.

I've worked for a digital marketing company for the past 3 years (2 as a remote contract and 1 as a full-time employee). Recently, I was able to go fully remote, and have now been able to get some traveling done and spend more time with family.

You may need to earn your stripes before making this sort of change. However, employers who value their workers and want to promote a flexible work-life balance are generally accommodating, especially if you produce results.

2. Freelance While Traveling

If you can build up a modest freelance portfolio and client base before traveling, you will be able to sustain yourself and earn a steady income while abroad.

There are plenty of remote job boards where you can begin to look for online work that fits your skill set.

I also recommend using your own network or joining niche Facebook groups related to your area of expertise to pitch clients there (blogging groups are a great way to find writing, graphic design, or VA work).

I've always turned to freelance writing or digital marketing/SEO related gigs to make extra income, but there are plenty of industries where freelancing is common. From working as a virtual assistant to coding, there are plenty of opportunities out there.

Just be sure to have a polished portfolio and some work lined up before departing if you want to ensure that you make money during your travels.

3. Tutor English Online

If you are a native English speaker, you can make upwards of $20-$25/hour by tutoring online students in English.

Websites like VIPKid, Cambly, or GoGoKid are constantly looking for qualified tutors to join their platforms. While some tutoring companies require tutors to hold an undergraduate degree, others don't, so there is plenty of opportunity out there.

The interview process for companies can be quite tough, so properly preparing for your interview and watching YouTube videos on how to effectively teach ESL online is critical.

Additionally, you should note that the students you teach will mostly live in China/surrounding countries, so you will need to adjust to their timezone.

However, this is a decent way to make money while traveling since it can be done early in the morning and you just need a well-lit room, basic teaching prompts/materials, and a solid internet connection/laptop.

4. Blog

While this idea takes several months or even years of prep before it can sustain your travel dreams, a money making blog is an amazing asset to have in your back pocket when traveling.

Your blog doesn't have to generate thousands of dollars a month. Even an couple hundred dollars can be enough to sustain yourself in many countries in this world, and you can also use the money to cut into travel expenses at the very least and mitigate debt.

You also don't need to be a travel blogger in order to make money during your travels, or even blog that frequently while on the road.

WebMonkey currently earns $500+ USD a month between ads and affiliate revenue, which is enough to cover housing costs and some groceries in many countries around the world.

Scheduling your content and social media postings before you leave can help alleviate most of the manual work you'd normally have to do. Plus, you can always bust out a blog post while flying/traveling between destinations!

5. Microtask Work

If you're looking to subsidize your income while traveling rather than fully replacing your at-home salary, micro jobs might be the perfect solution.

Tasks like search engine evaluation, social media monitoring, virtual assistant work, or website testing are just a few ways to earn upwards of $15/hour by working online.

There are plenty of companies hiring part-time workers for these sorts of gigs, and outside of having a stable internet requirement, there's really no other barrier to entry.

It will be hard to fill a 40 hour work week with microtask work, but that's why this is a viable solution for padding your pockets with some extra grocery money and not suggested for replacing your previous income entirely.

Offline Ideas to Make Money While Traveling

If you haven't developed an online income stream or negotiated for remote work, that is absolutely okay.

There are still plenty of ways to earn money while traveling if you know how to market yourself and are willing to put in some work!

6. Gig Economy Jobs

If you're traveling through or staying in a major city (primarily in North America or Europe), you can probably make some fast side cash by turning to gig economy jobs.

There are always people out there willing to pay for a service. It doesn't matter if you find work assembling furniture, deliver food for cash, walk dogs, or complete random odd jobs posted on online forums…there's money to be made if you hustle.

Having experience with some popular gig apps before starting your travel will help since some apps require a background check/take time to get off the ground.

7. Bartending & Restaraunt Work

If there's one thing that you're guaranteed to find in almost any country on earth, it's people who drink (unless religious values of the region prohibit it).

Working as a traveling bartender is perhaps one of the most common methods of earning income during travel that I've heard.

Several of my friends and people I have met during my own travels have used their skills behind the bar to make side cash during extended trips. They typically stay in a city for a few months at a time and pick up some bar shifts to subsidize their income.

Similarly, if you're traveling to a major city, you can generally find work in restaurants as a server (if you speak the local language) or as a dishwasher/prep helper if you aren't too fluent.

Getting a travel visa before you depart will naturally help, but there's also the ‘please pay me cash under the table' route can work as well.

8. Pick A Work-Visa Friendly Country

Of all my colleagues who decided to travel after graduating from college, most headed to Australia or New Zealand.

Certain countries have an easier application process for work visas than others. Securing even a 6-12 month visa to work in a foreign country will open the range of jobs you can apply for when abroad.

Countries with more lenient visa rules include:

• Ireland (offers a working holiday program).
• Costa Rica
• Cambodia (you basically just need a business visa, which can be renewed indefinitely)
• Germany (offers an artist visa that allows freelancers and journalists to work in Berlin).

9. Tourism Gigs

When I was younger, my family and I used to travel to the Dominican Republic whenever we could. Since then, I've also traveled to other countries in the Caribbean and Europe.

Regardless of where I've traveled, I have always met someone in the city who found a temporary job in the tourism industry because they speak English and are also willing to learn the local language.

In the Dominican, it was the scuba diving instructors at the hotel. In France, all the tour guides working at the D-Day Beach museum and memorial center were students or recent history graduates from around the world.

The point is, businesses operating in the tourism industry want qualified guides and workers who are bilingual. If you know the local dialect and a popular language like English, you can probably find temporary work in whatever city you're traveling to.

Get Paid to Travel – Top Job Ideas:

If you don't want to jeopardize your entire income while going abroad, online work or completing side jobs may understandably be too volatile for you.

However, there are still plenty of careers out there that pay you to travel, or at least heavily incorporate travel into job responsibilities.

10. Flight Attendant

Here's the reality about being a flight attendant: it can be pretty brutal when starting out and having zero seniority.

However, if you're a fan of flying and want the chance to travel to new countries, working as a flight attendant is one way to see more of the world than your average job.

You might have to spend the first few years mainly working domestic flights, and you certainly won't be sipping cocktails in Dubai every Friday night. Regardless, if you're looking for steady pay and to escape a normal office job, working with a major airline might be a decent option.

11. Sales & Trade Shows

The coolest internship I had during college was to work as a marketing and sales assistant for a company that specializes in satellite communication technology for marine vessels.

I spent roughly 75% of my time in-office working on marketing material, trade show prep, social media management, and product testing.

However, the other 25% of my time was spent working a booth at major marine trade shows throughout the Eastern and Southern United States.

Any on-the-road sales job you can get will open to travel the world and get paid, especially if your clients are international.

12. Cruise Ships

Working aboard a cruise ship, as with being a flight attendant, is certainly tough work.

Cruise ships have gotten a pretty bad reputation over the past few years regarding the working/living conditions staff have to go through, and this line of work is?not a free pass to travel the world on a non-stop vacation.

Crew members can expect long shifts, cramped living quarters, and short amounts of time at dock/off work to actually see the destinations the cruise line is stopping at.

However, if you want to get paid to travel, these cons may be worth it. I mean, there is zero chance a normal office job will have a 12 hour stop off the Amalfi Coast.

13. Crew Member

You don't have to work for a cruise line to get paid while traveling the world.

Both commercial and recreational vessels are often in need of extra hands to help out during a voyage. If you have some experience with boating or working aboard a merchant vessel, this can be a simple way to find work and free transportation/board.

Two of the most popular websites to find work as a crew member include:

• CrewSeekers.
• Find A Crew.

14. Au Pair

An Au Pair is someone who helps with household tasks in exchange for room and board (and sometimes a modest salary).

Working as an Au Pair is immensely popular for young, single travelers looking to visit new countries without having to worry about living costs.

Typically, Au Pairs are responsible for cooking/cleaning tasks, childcare duties, and helping out busy families with whatever else they need. The majority of Au Pairs are also female, so keep this in mind.

Working as an Au Pair is not a free ticket to travel, and you will most likely have to reside in the same city as your host family for several months. However, this still presents a cheaper way to see a new country and to cut down on travel costs.

Websites for finding Au Pair jobs include:

• AuPairWorld
• AuPair.com
• NewAuPair (also includes nanny work).

15. Woofing Farms

If you want to earn free room and board while working abroad, finding work on a WWOOF farm might be the easiest solution.

WWOOF stands for ‘Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms,' and connects eager travelers with organic farmers around the world who are in need of extra help.

The goal of WWOOF is to link “volunteers with organic farmers and growers to promote cultural and educational experiences based on trust and non-monetary exchange, thereby helping to build a sustainable, global community.”

Farm work is tough, but if you're strapped for cash, this is a great opportunity to visit a new country and secure a living arrangement while you get your feet under you.

Final Thoughts

Figuring out how to make money while traveling is not something that can be done overnight. In reality, I suggest taking several months or even years to prep ahead of your travel plans to ensure you have a stable income (or enough savings) to actually enjoy your time abroad.

However, if you put in the work ahead of time and do your research, you can certainly sustain yourself for extended periods of time while traveling.

Start a side hustle or online income stream now and learn the ropes. By the time you want to escape the traditional 9-5, you'll have a solid foundation in place to rely on.

Happy travels!

The post How to Make Money While Traveling – 15 Ways to Explore & Earn appeared first on WebMonkey.

That's the fun part about entrepreneurship, and it's also why I encourage it very frequently for other young adults.

Along your journey, you usually end up encountering a slew of interesting people, new ideas/opportunity, and you often find yourself travelling down a path you never would have expected.

I'm incredibly excited to share this Young Money story with you today because it's truly an example of what can happen in life if you just take a shot in the dark and try to build something.

I met Ben, the entrepreneur who is about to take over this post, in college last year, and he is by far one of the most open minded and driven people I met during school.

Ben's been on WebMonkey before, and covered how to start a successful podcast a few months back.

If you want to learn more about how Ben has started both a successful podcast and a rapidly growing YouTube channel, be sure to read on!

Also be sure to checkout the previous posts in the Young Money interview series!

About Ben:

Growing up, I had a passion for two things.

The first was sports, and the second was something I later found out was entrepreneurship, and most of my free time was invested into one of the two interests.

I was starting side hustles before I was 10 without even realizing that was a thing.

I also invested almost every waking hour into football as my dream was to be the starting running back for my favorite NFL team, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

I played the sport year round and trained throughout all of it as well. It cultivated into a decent high school career with a few championships and an opportunity to play at the next level in college.

However, I only ended up playing a season on the team and walked away after suffering a serious concussion.

I had attached so much of my identity and confidence to the sport, like many athletes do. After my concussion, I was terribly lost and confused as to where I should invest all of this new found time.

The First Side Hustle – YouTube:

Figuring out what to do next took some serious self reflection.

I took the time to write down all the things I knew I loved, and I recommend this strategy to anyone searching for direction or purpose.

I don’t care who you are, there will be things you do in life, big or small, that make you feel a certain way.

That indescribable feeling is your life compass trying to point you in the right direction.

I have always loved entertaining, inspiring and educating people. Few things give me the satisfaction like an engaged audience that I know I provided value for.

The only time I had ever really had the opportunity to experience this was through school presentations or performances. However, I was fascinated with social media and more specifically, YouTube.

I had been following the journeys of many entrepreneurs for a while, and I consistently found myself feeling similar and wanted to build a presence and lifestyle like theirs.

Starting a YouTube channel seemed like a great way to build and engage an audience, but like many people, I made excuses and quit before even trying.

I continued to toy around with the idea until my compass forced me into action.

While playing recreational football, I tore my ACL and meniscus.

I was devastated and immobile. After wallowing in self pity, feeling like I couldn’t catch a break, I went to YouTube to seek out advice on how to deal with my new situation.

Upon doing so I was surprised to find very little content of any value on ACL injuries and rehab. I decided this was my opportunity for YouTube; my opportunity to earn those subscriptions and grow.

I made a series of videos on my experience with the injury that have received over 200k views to date. Throughout this process, I fell in love with the platform and the ability to help others through simply doing things I enjoy.

Extra watching – See how Ben made his first YouTube paycheck and learn how to make money on YouTube!

Expanding The Channel:

While ACL recovery videos were a great start for my channel, the niche put me in a box with little room to grow.

Realizing this, I decided to incorporate my second long time passion, entrepreneurship.

I began making videos providing advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs ranging from tactical strategies, general mindset advice, and personal development.

During this time of starting my channel, one of my favorite YouTubers appeared on a podcast I listened to, and this was another light bulb moment for me and was something that dramatically changed my life.

I decided that, much like my knee, this was the push I needed to grow.

I decided to start a podcast.

The Second Side Hustle – Podcasting:

I had always wanted to connect with entrepreneurs, but I was also a kid from Canada with no connections in the game.

Starting my podcast, Do Dope Shit, seemed like a perfect way to bridge this gap.

I decided to structure my content with passion in mind while also aiming for growth, and I built a show around what I wanted to supplement in my life.

Let me tell you, having your content based on passion and desired personal growth will keep you extremely motivated and consistent.

I decided the direction for my show and you can find it in the bio of my podcast: “Benjamin Hayden Leavitt interviews doers who have followed their own path and created a career and lifestyle revolving around passion. He captures their stories, struggles and tactics to try and help you do the same.”

Why Podcasting:

Podcasting is the most valuable platform for self-improvement, bar none.

I have made so many amazing friends and established relationships that will last a lifetime because of the medium, and I believe it has everything to do with the nature of podcasting.

Conversation has been a tool that humans have used to connect, learn, grow, laugh and educate as long as we have been around.

Every episode, I have an hour long conversation with someone I want to get to know, so we inevitably leave as friends while also creating a valuable piece of evergreen content.

I have been able to connect with people I otherwise never would have through podcasting while simultaneously improving my conversational abilities, a lifelong skill that is also important for business.

Extra Reading – Podcast vs YouTube – What's Best For You?

Combining Passions:

Podcasting gave me a new skill and an outlet for my passion, but YouTube was still something I saw so much value in.

I figured creating a video on my podcasting experience would provide some value to my small audience, so I made one.

It went about the same as every previous video, and I thought it was a decent video but nothing spectacular.

It received the same amount of views as my other videos (under 100). I moved on and thought nothing of it.

Five months later that same video started receiving hundreds of views a day.

I didn’t think anything of it, and thought it was just a fluke.

However, it continued to grow and continues to this day, averaging about 600+ views every single day and has surpassed 115K views.

It ranks in very competitive keywords, has brought me a decent amount of passive and recurring income from affiliate revenue, Adsense revenue, and future sponsored videos and opportunities.

It also forced me to learn more about growing a channel and making money on YouTube/podcasting.

This has led to consulting jobs for paid clients and many more opportunities coming in the near future. At this point it isn’t crazy money, but it is extremely helpful and continues to grow.

Wins & Losses:

My biggest win turned out to be a complete surprise in the form of my first viral video.

As for the biggest loss, that would definitely be dealing with a massive headache and lost episodes due to poor software and a lack of knowledge.

Starting a podcast is a learning process, and I have made plenty of mistakes along the way.

To avoid any of these complications, I now highly recommend investing in a reliable and dedicated hosting service. I partner with Buzzsprout and use them as my host. If you are looking for a host, Buzzsprout is giving out a free $20 Amazon gift card when you sign up!

What Advice Do You Have For Other Young Entrepreneurs?

My advice to any other young people looking to grow is to simply start doing things, constantly.

Through doing that, life and the market will manufacture the right opportunity.

It’s easy to get discouraged when you see people “killing it” on social media, but it’s important to remember that Instagram isn’t reality and everyone is on their own path.

Your path will form, but only when you start learning, failing, and actually putting the effort into creating something.

Final Thoughts:

I'd like to thank Ben for taking the time once again to share his story on WebMonkey.

I think Ben's story is a perfect example of how jumping into a passion project can take you down a path you never would have imagined.

I also think that Ben's initial venture into YouTube (ACL videos) and eventual viral video on how to start a podcast proves that you can succeed if you provide real value to the market.

Ben couldn't find useful content on how to recover from an ACL surgery so he created it, and he was rewarded. His video on how to start a podcast is also one of the best I have seen on the topic and is transparent/honest, and the views prove it.

Niche saturation or competition shouldn't scare you.

If anything, you should get excited when a subject you are passionate about has a growing audience around it. Focus on providing value, put in the work, and you can succeed on any platform.

Be sure to checkout Ben's podcast if you haven't already, and be sure to leave a review. You can also checkout his YouTube channel for more insightful entreprenurial resources and tips.

Catch you guys in the next one.

The post Young Money Interview #5 – Ben’s Successful Podcast & YouTube Journey appeared first on WebMonkey.

I've been blogging at WebMonkey for the past year and a half, and I've certainly had my share of ups and down. A recent Google algorithm update has actually knocked my traffic a fair bit, and I'll admit, I've been frustrated with progress the past month or so.

But, here's the thing I've realized: overcoming challenges is what makes side hustling so rewarding, and it's also what forces you to adapt and grow.

So, if you're currently stuck in a rut with your finances, hustles, or your goals in general, remember this is all part of the process!

And, if you need a touch of additional motivation, feel free to browse this list of the best quotes about grinding and hustling!

Onto the quotes!

Motivational Quotes About Persistence

1. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit” – Aristotle

If you ever need a healthy dose of wisdom in your life, turning to the Ancient Greeks isn't a terrible idea.

I think this quote is important for anyone working towards the bigger picture. The end might not be in sight, but you build towards it with perseverance and grit!

2. “Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to take it all away from you” – Mark Cuban

I've mentioned Mark Cuban before in my mega blog recap post, and that's for good reason. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, heeding the advice of entrepreneurs who have already made it is an easy way to keep a level head.

So, if you're ever stuck in a rut when it comes to a hustle like blogging, remember you sometimes have to double down and keep your foot on the gas.

3. “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work” – Thomas Edison.

If this quote doesn't summarize persistence I don't know what will.

This is probable one of Edison's most famous quotes of all time, and I think this is the most admirable one of them all. When facing a challenge that seems insurmountable, remember that you are not failing so long as you learn from your mistakes and never give up.

4. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

Fun fact: one of my favorite books of all-time and part of my namesake comes from Mark Twain's novel Tom Sawyer.

There is a very simple but important truth behind this quote. Everyone has dreams, and everyone talks about their goals, but talk is cheap. The only way to make progress and deliver is to get the ball rolling in the first place.

5. “The dream is free. The hustle is sold separately” – Unknown

Speaking of dreams, take a look at this motivational quote. This basically sums up the reality of what it takes to reach your goals.

It doesn't matter if you're aiming to be debt free, to start a business, or to reach financial independence…hard work is the only way to get there.

6. “Good things happen to those who hustle.” – Anais Nin

This quote is a simple one, but true nevertheless.

There is such a thing as luck, but as the saying goes, the harder you work, the luckier you get!

Inspirational Quotes About Taking Risk

 Hard work and persistence are the foundation of success when it comes to side hustling, but taking the first (and sometimes risky) step is critical for getting the ball rolling.

7. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

There's a reason Muhammad Ali has so many famous quotes, and the reason isn't that he was simply a world-class boxer.

Ali had a very, very interesting life, and it was a life that was filled with a great deal of adversity and tough, risky decision making. If you ever have time to read his biography, I highly recommend it!

It can be scary to take on new challenges or to pick an ambitious goal because that opens us up to the chance of failure, but that is why there is an element of courage involved in risk taking.

8. “Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller.

Helen Keller said this. Please, take that in for a moment and acknowledge how incredible she is.

It's sort of funny, in a way. I think many cultures in this world praise security, and don't get me wrong, comfort has its fair share of merit.

But I will admit, as I've sat at my 9-5 desk job over the last few months, I think a part of me hears the message behind this quote more and more every day. Maybe it is too easy for security to turn to complacency, and perhaps they are the same thing?

9. “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.” – T.S. Eliot.

I'm not a huge fan of poetry (I'm 22, and I've seen enough Rupi Kaur love quotes on Instagram to last many lifetimes at this point).

However, I do like Eliot, and I think this is a beautiful quote that relates perfectly to risk taking, side hustles, and entrepreneurship in general.

Think about our ancestors, who explored uncharted territory, sailed across unknown seas, or delved into places on earth no human had ever been before? They embodied this quote, and I think that's pretty groovy.

10. “Pearls don't lie on the seashore. If you want one, you must dive for it.” – Chinese Proverb.

Proverbs generally stick around because, well, they kind of have a point.

When it comes to obtaining something worthwhile, you usually have to dive into some sort of uncertainty and leave comfort behind. So, if you're launching a new business or pushing towards your goals, keep this one in mind whenever you start to feel uncertainty creep in.

11. “Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.” – General Patton.

I wanted to wrap up the section on quotes about taking risk with something a bit more level headed, and this quote from George Patton does the job.

I think it is very easy to think yourself into inaction, or to suffer paralysis by analysis.

On the flip side, I think it can also be incredibly easy to throw all caution to the wind and to act rashly.

Learning how to take calculated risks is an important life skill, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship. Besides, as a history fan, I couldn't write a post on quotes without including at least one famous general.

Quotes About Leading A Great Life

What is the point of building something, or working hard, or taking risks in general if we just crawl into a box and die at the end of the day?

Alright, morbid, but you get my point. It's great to set goals and to hustle, but all the money in the world doesn't mean a thing if you don't live a life of meaning.

So, here are some quotes I personally enjoy on the subject!

12. “It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old. They grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” – Gabriel García Márquez

Márquez is a famous Colombian author, and if you've ever read his famous works 100 Years of Solitude, this quote might strike you as a bit odd coming from him seeing as 100 Years of Solitude is incredibly fatalistic and kinda depressing.

 But, I love this quote nevertheless. I think this mentality is also why I love the concept of side hustling as well. Idleness isn't good, at any age, and it is important to remember that!

13. “Creating is the essence of life.” – Julius Caesar

Alright, I couldn't resist, I had to sneak one more military general into this list of hustling and motivational quotes.

Caesar is actually my answer for the question: ‘if you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be?” The man was just EPIC. Seriously, read his biography sometime and you'll see what I mean.

But this quote rings very true. I truly believe that we are the happiest when we are creating, and if that's not the reason I'm blogging at 1:00am on a Friday night, I don't really know what is.

14. “If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it's not.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk is definitely my favorite entrepreneur, and his mentality of perseverance and always keeping the bigger picture in mind is what inspires me the most.

If there is one motivational quote you take away from this post, I hope it is this one. Nothing is possible if you wake up already defeated, so always remember to look on the bright side of things.

15. “Be not afraid of going slowly. Be afraid only of standing still.” – Chinese Proverb.

This is another vital quote I hope you take away from this post.

I've always had the type of personality that wants things faster.

I rushed my graduation, I want to grow my blog faster, I want to earn/save more money at a quicker rate…all fine goals on their own, but in aggregate they can be a toxic and unappreciative way of thinking and living.

Set incredibly ambitious goals.

But don't be frustrated if it takes longer to reach them than you originally thought.

Rather, just be sure you continue to move towards them and continue to better yourself. This is true for both side hustling and any part of life, really.

Final Thoughts

I'll admit, this was a very different style of post than I am used to writing on WebMonkey.

I'll also admit that I'm generally not a fan of the whole ‘rise and grind' hype. It's overdone, and I'm also pretty tired of YouTubers or entrepreneur gurus like Gary Vaynerchuk using it for the basis of their cult-like following (have you ever met a hardcore Gary V fan? It's somewhat frightening).

However, when it comes to sticking with your side hustle or financial goals, it can be hard to remain motivated…especially if your particular goals of 5, 10, or 15+ years down the line.

So again, just remember: consistency and perseverance is the key, don't be afraid to take risks, and always remember to have a have a dream or bigger picture you are working towards. Otherwise none of this hustling stuff is really worth it anyway!

I hope you guys enjoyed, I'll catch you in the next one.

The post 15 Famous Hustling Quotes To Help Inspire You – Get Motivated! appeared first on WebMonkey.

Between paying for tuition, rent, groceries, and still keeping up with a social life, financial stress is incredibly common for students. In fact, 70% of college students are stressed about their finances.

I'm a recent college graduate, but I remember a lot of that stress.

During college, I worked 10-20 hours a week as a Starbucks barista, and I also started several college side hustles and worked remotely to pay for tuition.

However, the main strategy that helped me to get through college was to live frugally. Earning money is great, but if you can figure out effective ways to save money in college, you'll be better off in the long run.

I want to take a trip down memory lane and share some of the most effective strategies I implemented during my time as a student.

If you're looking for the ultimate list of tips to save money in college, this is the post for you!

This post will contain tips surrounding:

• Food budgeting.
• Rent/utilities.
• Tuition, textbooks, and school expenses.
• Entertainment.

Let's get to it!

Want to pay less for your monthly phone bill? Checkout:

• Mint Mobile – Get Premium Wireless For Just $15/Month!

Saving Money In School – Food Related Expenses

Outside of rent, tuition, and textbooks, your grocery bill will be one of your main expenses.

The following tips are a great way to cut down on your student grocery bill and to save more money each semester.

1. Adopt A Simple Diet

One of the easiest ways to save money in college is to adopt a minimalist shopping plan.

My roommate actually devised the perfect college menu when he was in school that consisted of:

• Breakfast: Eggs and toast, or plain oatmeal mixed with yogurt and frozen berries.
• Lunch: Rice/beans, veggie mix (either frozen peas and carrots or some frozen green beans), and minced chicken or turkey.
• Dinner: Repeat lunch.

This foundation, plus a few extra items every now and again like fruit or vegetable, created an extremely lean but effective diet. Buy treats or something exciting every once in a while, but stick to the core diet.

The secret isn't to live off of Kraft dinner or Ramen (you'll just get scurvy and die this way).

I made a recent YouTube video that breaks down some of the best ways to save money in college, and it includes a section on how to keep meal planning affordable!

Just remember, you still need some variety (greater food variety actually has multiple benefits) but the key is to keep things fairly simple for your weekly shopping trips.

2. Buy In Bulk

One benefit of buying a limited number of food items is that you can shop in bulk to save money.

Find the closest bulk food supply store, Costco, or place you can stock up on essentials and go to town! Don't be afraid about buying an absurd amount of food in one go if it won't spoil and if the savings make sense.

3. Shop On Student Discount Days

Almost every grocery store in my city gave between 5-10% off on certain days of the week to students. I never diligently shopped on these days, but that was a missed opportunity.

Find out when stores offer student discounts and take note. If you can shop once a week for food and only on discount days, you can save money on your grocery bill throughout your entire degree!

Extra Reading – 14 Awesome Freebies For Students.

4. Meal Prep

Eating out or ordering delivery is the bane of college students. Events like drunken Uber Eats at 2am or exam season pizza binges can easily sink a student budget.

If you want to save money during college, you need to meal prep on a regular basis.

With your frugal grocery list in hand, it should be easy to plan out your meals and cook several portions every couple of days. Having readily available meals will reduce the likelihood you cave in and order food, and you can even freeze meals for backup.

I highly suggest investing in a cheap rice cooker and set of glass containers that you can use to make meal prepping a breeze.

5. Delete Temptation

After a complicated, tumultuous relationship with Skip The Dishes, one of my old roommates made the tough decision to delete the app from his phone.

Trust me, if you have apps like Skip The Dishes on your phone you will use them. 

Delete the apps, unsubscribe from their email marketing, and just download the app again when you order food next time (it takes 30 seconds and this extra step makes it harder to purchase food on a whim).

6. Use Price Match Apps

Almost every major grocery store offers price matching these days, and you don't even need to use flyers or coupons anymore thanks to price match apps.

Personally, I use Flipp to quickly scan for coupons and deals or to price match various grocery items at checkout. I don't use it as often as I should, but it's an incredibly straightforward way to save money while grocery shopping.

I shop primarily at Walmart and NoFrills, and I still find great deals through Flipp, so this isn't just for fancy grocery store shoppers!

7. Use Receipt Scanning Apps

I've written a post on the best reward apps and I currently use Checkout 51, Receipt Hog, and Caddle to earn cashback for buying various items.

The downside to having a minimal grocery list is that you won't qualify for many of the offers on some cashback apps, but for random purchases like medication or cooking supplies/kitchenware, they can come in handy.

Again, these apps won't break the bank, but you can probably make $20-$40 a year without too much effort by using some of these apps!

8. Set An Alcohol Budget

Learning how to budget as a student is incredibly important, especially when it comes to food and alcohol.

I find that grocery bills for a single person are fairly consistent. Alcohol, on the other hand, is definitely more volatile based on events you attend, the season, or how many memories you're in desperate need of forgetting.

Set a monthly alcohol budget and stick to it.

I didn't do this in college, and while I don't drink often, grabbing pints at restaurants or random new beers from the Beer Store can add up surprisingly fast.

9. Buy A Flask

If you frequently go to bars or clubs while in school, I definitely suggest buying a flask so you can bring your own alcohol into an establishment.

A small flask is easy to sneak into a bar, and I've seen countless people do this without getting caught.

It's a simple but easy way to cut down on your alcohol spending, and you can drink in the bathroom stall like every other frugal degenerate has done before you. My friends and I did this frequently, and it saved a lot of money!

Seriously, make the $10-$15 purchase and bask in the amount of money you save on alcohol.

Rent & Utilities – Reducing The Cost of Living

Once your food and alcohol budgets are sorted, it's time to turn your money-saving focus towards another necessity: rent and utility bills.

10. Embrace Student Life

During college, I started out by paying $450/month to live in a student housing complex that was fairly close to campus, banks, and a grocery store.

I lived with fantastic roommates, and having multiple people in the same house helped keep utilities at a manageable level. Utilities never surpassed $50/month because of the shared bills.

In my final year of college, I moved in with my now ex-girlfriend (don't do this), paid $750/month in rent (don't do this), and probably spent closer to $80/month on utilities (don't do this).

The point is: take student life for what it is and don't rush to get out of it.

I deeply regret rushing through that phase of my life, and there were certainly many advantages to living like a student that also help save money.

Sure, I started work sooner and eventually got my own place, but I still could have finished my degree early while working a 9-5 job and stayed with my roommates for one more year.

Live with a bunch of your close friends in a rundown house for your entire college career and save as much money on rent as you can. Trust me.

11. Furnish For Free?

We never bought a single sofa for our student house, and I don't even think we really purchased chairs or much in the way of furniture in general.

If you're looking for ways to save money in college, stick with what old tenants left behind or find free items on Kijiji.

One of the funniest moments I had in college was when my roommates brought back a free Kijiji sofa that had springs falling out the bottom of it as they carried it through the door. The thing was incredibly uncomfortable but it really did bond us.

Extra Reading – How To Save $10,000 In A Year.

12. Work With Your Landlord

If you can learn how to do basic household maintenance or fix problems like clogged drains, toilet issues, or whatever else needs to be done, you can probably offer to do the work for your landlord in exchange for payment when problems arise.

In college, our landlord lived an hour away, and he made plenty of offers over the years for us to do work like painting or even to show the house to future tenants in exchange for money.

If you sense an opportunity to make some extra money (which can be applied against your rent), take action.

13. Negotiate Internet Bills

If you are in charge of paying the internet bill for your student house, make sure you stay as the account holder for at least one year/for as long as possible so you can eventually negotiate your internet bill.

My housemates and I never did this, but in hindsight, we definitely could have threatened to move to Bell and had Rogers drop their monthly price for us if we had just bothered to ask.

Extra reading – 7 bonus tips for cutting down on monthly expenses.

14. Don't Over-Pack For Residence Or Your First College Home

I was guilty of this for my first year living in a dorm, as well as my first year living in a college house with friends.

Trust me…you will NOT use that egg-McMuffin maker machine, or that crock-pot. You also won't wear half the articles of clothing you decide to pack (let's be real, sweatpants or jeans are king).

Keep things simple, and prioritize items that will improve quality of life, organization, and your overall health…pack vitamin C, cold medication, or a nice toiletry bag for the dorm showers, not a fancy kitchen appliance you'll never use. The easiest way to save money in college is to just be smart and realistic with your money, after all.

If you want tips for how to pack for college as a guy or girl, check out the following posts:

• Guy dorm room essentials.
• Girl dorm room essentials.

Saving On School Related Expenses

Once you've saved as much money as possible on the necessities, it's time to start tackling the most unfortunate part about going to school in the first place: the price tag.

15. Actually Apply For Scholarships

Everyone intends to apply for scholarships or competitions, but almost no one ever does (and this is why you have to start trying).

An entrance scholarship helped save me $5,000 in tuition at my college, and one of my college side hustles was to enter a marketing competition where I ended up winning $1,000.

Look around for opportunities for free money. They will promptly stop the second you graduate school, more or less, so take advantage of the chance while you still can.

16. Opt Out Of Useless Services

If you take a close look at your student fees, you will notice there are dozens of random associations and clubs that get a slice of the pie.

While you can't opt out of everything, many colleges let students recoup some of their tuition for things like dental or optical coverage if they are insured elsewhere.

If you already have coverage, don't be lazy: opt out of things you don't need to save a few hundred bucks.

17. Download PDF Textbooks

If you do some digging on Reddit, you can find plenty of great sources or methods to download your textbooks for free.

Sure, the edition might not always be correct, and you have to navigate a confusing labyrinth of sketchy Russian sites and viruses to find what you're looking for, but it is worth it.

Plenty of my friends downloaded textbooks, and the worst that ever happened was a slap on the wrist from Campus IT support.

If you can't find textbooks to download, you can try shopping at Abebooks (this is where I bought all the books I couldn't get for free).

18. Sell Textbooks

If you're going to end up with a bunch of electronic textbooks versions on your laptop…I mean…you might as well…

Selling textbooks online for $10 a pop was the easiest, fastest money I have made in college.

Students are always looking for cheap alternatives to the criminally expensive textbooks profs push, and you will sell textbooks like hotcakes through various Facebook groups or even local classifieds.

Extra Reading – Sell College Notes For Cash.

19. Don't Buy Textbooks

This is by far the most straightforward tip to save money in college but no one seems willing to do this for some reason.

Sometimes, you don't need to buy a textbook.

For example, I took a stupid but required course called ‘Individuals and Groups in Organizations.' The textbook cost something like $120.

The course was essentially about learning how people function in the workplace, and was some social well-being bullshit that is all common sense anyways.

Didn't buy the book, did fine in the class, and didn't waste money. Textbooks are resources, and if you don't need the resource, don't pay for it. Besides, you can usually rent textbooks from the library if you need to study a specific chapter.

Extra Tips For Saving Money In College

Once you've cut costs on food, rent, and school expenses, you can use these other simple methods to save even more money.

20. Use A Cash back Credit Card

Forget what they say about being too young to use a credit card. If you can drink, vote, and legally marry someone, learn how to use a credit card and start earning cash back without overspending.

I used a credit card all throughout college, but I was foolish and never got one with cash back rewards. Even if you receive 1% cash back, it will add up over the years.

21. Use Cash back Apps

I've written posts on ways to save money when shopping online or cashback apps you can use, and while they don't lead to an insane amount of savings, getting in the habit is worth it.

Shopping online can already help save money, so you might as well use some cashback apps to recoup even more cost.

I personally use Drop, Ebates, and Honey at the moment to save, and this is an easy way to recoup $100+ a year at least.

These programs are free and one of the easiest ways to save money in a pinch if you're looking for more options.

Checkout our Drop app review and Honey extension review for all the details!

22 – Take Advantage Of Student Deals

If you subscribe to services like Amazon Prime, Spotify, Apple Music, or other subscription services, you should be on the lookout for student prices.

If you have a .edu email, you can usually signup for student deals during college and even afterwards for as long as the email account stays active. Long story short, avoid paying full price for as long as you can!

Extra Reading – The 8 Best Amazon Price Trackers To Find Deals.

23 – Use A High-Interest Savings Account

Even if you don't invest your money while in school, you should at least park your money somewhere it can earn interest.

Personally, I used Tangerine's (Canada only) high interest savings account to save money in college with whatever spare money I had between semesters, and it added up.

If Tangerine isn't your thing, you can use other high interest savings accounts or take a look at apps like Peak Money!

You can also try out the CIT Savings Builder Account to earn 1.45% interest on the money you save!

24 – Tax Refunds

I'm no tax expert, but I do know there are plenty of ways to save money as a college student thanks to various tax laws.

If you can claim your rent and tuition while informing the government that you are basically broke, you should be able to get a decent of money back on your tax return (if you have a job) or as benefit payments.

Again, look into the laws for your given country/state, but don't pass up on free money!

Final Thoughts

College is incredibly expensive, and money can be tight while you pursue an education, but there are ways to reduce financial burden and stress.

Stick to a budget, live frugally, start a side hustle or pick up some work if you need to make ends meet, and just be smart. You can find ways to save money during college if you have a plan in place.

Additionally, remember that grades are not really that important if your resume can back you up, and please don't forget to live a little.

Catch you guys in the next one!

Tom and the boys of Greasy Gordon.

The post How To Save Money In College – 23 Actionable Tips That Actually Work appeared first on WebMonkey.

I have a personality where I am always in a rush to get to the next stage of something, and throughout my last year of blogging, I have always felt as if things are not progressing fast enough…pageviews, income, social media followers…whatever metric you want, I always see room for improvement rather than an accomplishment.

I don't think I'm alone in this pattern of thinking. I also think that for side hustles like blogging or any online business that can take years to come to fruition, the thought of giving up can creep in pretty easily.

So, in this post I want to break down a few of the realizations I have come to over the past few months about starting various side hustles, as well as what I suggest for other entrepreneurs who have ever considered giving up.

Earning Potential – An Important Side Hustle Variable

The term ‘earning potential' is generally applied to various careers or business models, and refers to the maximum amount of profit a particular career or business can generate.

Earning potential is definitely a driving force behind why many people choose certain fields in college.

A doctor might have an earning potential of up to $250,000 a year as their career develops, while someone who decides to work in retail will have a much lower earning potential.

This isn't a surprising fact, but there are other factors that obviously come into play and it would be foolish to say that everyone should have the goal of becoming a doctor.

You can get a retail job at 16 in most places, whereas going to medical school will take many years and possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, so the barrier to entry is quite different and restrictive.

Additionally not everyone is cut out to be a doctor, nor does everyone actually want to be a doctor. Same goes for working in retail.

When you consider all these factors, it's clear that you can't judge a career choice based on earning potential alone: people ultimately need to choose the path that will suit their skills and circumstances.

The same is true for starting an online business or taking on a side hustle.

Blogging For Income + Opportunity Costs

The entire idea for this post came when I started thinking about the opportunity cost I have incurred due to starting a blog.

I don't know how many hours I have put into WebMonkey, but it's probably over 1,000 at this point (for the sake of simplicity, let's call it that).

If I had never started a blog and instead worked a $15/hour online job or some form of gig economy job, I could have theoretically earned $15,000 in extra income:

So, let's say $15,000 was my opportunity cost for blogging: I theoretically missed out on this income because I allocated my time and energy somewhere else.

Well, we can take this opportunity cost even further if we want to if we consider the math behind starting a side hustle and factor in investing + compound interest as well.

Let's propose that I earned this $15,000 in a single year, and that I immediately invested the money in my Tax Free Savings Account in some ETF that would give me a 5% annual rate of return (I'm ignoring taxes here on my $15,000 of course, but I think a 5% rate of return is also pretty damn conservative).

Anyway, turns out the real opportunity cost behind starting my blog in this scenario is closer to $40,000 if I didn't touch that money for 20 years:

So, it seems like I spent a full year starting a blog that made under $2,000 in revenue (I earned roughly $1,500 in profit during my first year), and passed up on nearly $40,000 worth of money down the line.

Again, this is a picture-perfect scenario that assumes I would have put all those hours into some online money making endeavor, but you get the idea…I passed up on a decent chunk of money either way.

When I looked at these numbers one evening, I definitely started to question why I was even doing this in the first place.

Here's what I concluded.

Always Consider Earning Ceilings & Floors

The best part about a lot of online money making options is that the barrier to entry is almost non-existent.

You can start making money with micro task sites in 5 minutes, or you can find stable ESL tutoring jobs and earn up to $25/hour with fairly regular hours.

However, the hourly wage of these side hustles represent the ceiling/earning potential you are left with. You can put in 1,000 hours or 10,000 hours and the result will simply reflect the difference in hours worked, not an increase in earnings/hour.

Anyways, a couple months ago I actually received an offer from an advertising network looking to purchase WebMonkey.

This blog isn't in a state where I would sell it, and frankly I don't know that I ever would sell, but here is what they said in their email:

Websites typically sell for somewhere between 1.8x-3.2x according to Flippa, so this offer didn't come across as anything too crazy.

So, all of a sudden it looks like WebMonkey has a valuation of $6,000 in an ideal world after roughly one year of work.

Hmm, maybe my opportunity cost isn't that horrendous after all? Maybe the fact that blogging for income has a much higher earning potential than gig jobs means I haven't been wasting my time for the past year.

Reworking The Model – Factoring In Website Valuation

The current graph shows that we're still quite far from the $15,000 we could have had from working another online job:

However, I want to propose an idea: what if your blogging rate per hour can go up over time?

I mean, it sort of naturally does if your blog grows, even slowly.

As a website gains more domain authority it can generally rank more easily for various keywords and generate more organic traffic per article (to a point).

Additionally, metrics such as social media followers, email subscribers, or even supplementary traffic sources (i.e. a Medium or Quora following) tend to grow as well.

Finally, if you tack on the learning that occurs over time and how one can hone their  blogging skills, I think it stands to reason that your blogging hourly rate increases over time as your audience/reach expands. It simply has to, or there wouldn't be any bloggers out there making a living (which there are).

Well, let's say that over time, you could grow your blogging income rate to something like $3/hour of work. That's not incredibly unreasonable, and here is what that would do for 1000 hours of work with various multiples:

All of a sudden, that 4x multiple puts the yearly value of your work much closer to the year that could have been spent working some online gig jobs.

At a rate of $5/hour, the value of a blog would actually surpass the $15,000 mark quite considerably:

And, at $10, there's simply no comparison:

Of course in order to actually reap the rewards of a website valuation multiple you would need to sell your website, so it isn't like $40,000 magically appears in your bank account.

However, I think this entire exercise highlights the point I brought up earlier about earning potential and floors/ceilings.

A blog or starting other similar online businesses are ventures that can gain value over time.

Additionally, they are the sorts of projects that can pay dividends in the long run and don't necessarily require the same amount of work over time (you can outsource, switch to semi-passive, etc…I definitely plan on outsourcing more work as my blogging income grows.)

In contrast, gig jobs have a very definable earning potential, and this is both their strength and weakness as I'll explain.

The Takeaway

I think there are a few takeaways from all of this, but I want to start with one that I think is very important.

Do not start a blog or any long-term venture if you need a lot of money in the near future.

Creating something of value is incredibly rewarding, but it takes time to come to fruition. If you need to pay down debt or save money in a short period of time, there are other side hustle options out there.

However, I also encourage people, especially young adults or college students, to get as many irons in the fire as possible.

The thing is, you don't even have to give up on immediate forms of extra income while you pursue creating a more long-term earner.

I've had plenty of college side hustles while working on WebMonkey, and other bloggers are too.

My friend Nathan from Millionaire Dojo is regularly turning over hundreds of dollars in profit every month by flipping items on eBay while he works on his blog in his spare time, so it's clear that you can successfully multitask 2 different businesses at once.

The point is: get excited about taking on projects.

I've come to realize that this entire process isn't a race. You don't have to make a million bucks online by the time you're 25, or to create the best blog the world has ever seen: you just need to take steps to accomplish the goals that matter to you.

I've considered giving up on blogging in the past, but actually getting a preliminary offer for WebMonkey was really encouraging in a way. If you've ever thought of giving up, please take a step back and recognize that you are moving in the right direction and that it just takes time!

Ultimately you will know what solution works best for you. There are hundreds of ‘gurus' out there who will outline their formula for success, but you're the only person who can find the project and balance that will work.

Just don't let opportunity cost scare you out of trying something great. 

The math might work out a bit more favorably anyway, and at the very least you'll learn a lot along the way!

Anyway, a bit of a different post on WebMonkey I suppose, but I hope it inspired some other bloggers or entrepreneurs out there!

Catch you guys in the next one.

Extra Reading: Is A Second Job Worth It?

The post Side Hustle Earning Potential – Floors, Ceilings & Opportunity Costs appeared first on WebMonkey.

I think the world of online money making is generally interesting and fun, so I argue that starting a side hustle or developing new income streams is a worthwhile (and fun) endeavor for anyone to take part in.

That being said, I understand that it can be intimidating to take the first step.

I was in the conundrum-camp just 9 months ago when I decided to give starting my own blog a shot. I also had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to start my own dropshipping business or when I tried (and failed) at shipping POD items on Etsy.

After succeeding and failing at a variety of businesses and ventures, I’ve ultimately learned that it doesn’t really matter as long as you are persistent.

Get as many irons in the fire as you can…throw things against the wall and see what sticks. That’s the name of the game when it comes to side hustling.

Eventually, you will find what works best for your given skillet and desires. I’ve launched blogs or Amazon affiliate websites before, but this is the niche and platform that has worked for me (it took a few years to find…I launched my first website when I was 16).

Anyway, I was recently having a conversation with a friend where I encouraged them to start their own Etsy shop.

Inevitably, the conversation touched upon 2 questions:

• How much money could they make by opening an Etsy shop?
• Would the whole thing be worth it?

After giving those questions some thought, I wanted to break down the simple math behind starting a side hustle in this post because I don’t think it is as complicated as people might think.

This post will contain:

• The simple math behind starting and benefiting from a side hustle.
• What side hustles help protect us from.
• Side hustling for income diversification?
• Some quick suggestions on how to make more money and financial independence.

Let’s get to it!

The Simple Math Behind Starting a Side Hustle – $50/Month

Before I get into the nitty-gritty details of this quick math, I want to outline what assumptions and tools I am using:

• I am using this compound interest calculator from getsmarteraboutmoney.ca.
• I am assuming a current initial investment amount of $0.
• I am assuming all of the money from side hustling is added to an investment portfolio each month (or that you contribute an equivalent amount to your portfolio if side hustle money is for paying off bills).
• I am assuming a 5% annual return rate. This is a conservative estimate, and more than reasonable.
• I am giving the portfolio 20 years to grow.

Now, let’s say you started a simple side hustle that started netting you $50 of income every single month.

This $50 might not seem like much, but then again, that’s $600 of extra income each year.

And when you plug in these numbers into the compound interest calculator…

Some pretty awesome returns come out!

It might sound absolutely crazy or even impossible, but if you invest $50 a month at a 5% annual rate of return, you will earn more than $8,000 in interest over 20 years.

Additionally, your investment portfolio as a whole would increase by more than $20,000; all from a simple $50 a month side hustle!

If you don't believe the math, just checkout the year-by-year breakdown:

The simple fact is that compound interest and time is the most powerful combination side hustlers have in their arsenal.

It doesn't matter if you are trying to reach financial independence or if you just want to make more money: investing and a long time frame are a killer duo!

So, what are some viable side hustle ideas for making $50 a month?

There are some very simple ones:

• You can spend a few hours at a myriad of gig-economy related jobs.
• You can work overtime or pick up one more shift.
• You can start a phone farm/use passive income apps or websites on a laptop to earn some money.
• You can try your hand at selling items on Etsy or other marketplaces.

The Simple Math Behind Starting a Side Hustle – Other Income Levels

Alright, while making $50 a month from side hustling is a great start, it's also reasonable to expect that you can make more money and increase your portfolio worth.

Let's take a look at a few more monthly earning thresholds!

Earning $100/Month from Side Hustling

If you invested $100/month at a 5% annual rate of return, you would earn more than $16,5000 in interest in 20 years and reach $40,500 in portfolio value!

Some viable side hustles I would recommend to make $100 a month in additional income include:

• Teaching English or other subjects online.
• Offering local services in your city, like lawn care, shoveling snow, gardening help, etc.
• Starting your own blog (it will take a few months to get running, granted, but if you check my recent income reports you'll see it is possible to earn $100-$300 a month from blogging within a year).
• Start writing on Medium (frequently…ideally several times a week until your income starts to pick up).

Earning $300/Month from Side Hustling

If you invested $300/month at a 5% rate of annual return, you would earn almost $50,000 in interest over 20 years and see your portfolio grow to more than $120,000!

Granted, it might take some time for you to develop a side hustle to a $300/month point, but it is possible!

Realistically, these are some side hustle ideas I could see generating $300/month:

• Finding work as a freelance writer (a lot of gigs can pay around $30/hour, so you would have to put in 10 hours a month to make $300).
• Finding other types of freelance work (social media management, web development, etc.)
• Selling products on Amazon (if you know what you are doing).
• Dropshipping (if you know what you are doing).
• Selling on Ebay (if you know what you are doing).

Earning $1,000/Month from Side Hustling

Alright, while this might be getting to the daydreaming phase for a lot of side hustlers, I think this $1,000/month benchmark really shows the power of compound interest in full.

Personally, earning 165K in interest from side hustle work sounds like a dream come true. While I am still a long, long way off this mark, the numbers certainly serve as a nice goal to work towards!

However, I think it is fairly unreasonable to expect someone that someone with a 40 hour work week can earn an additional $1,000/month from gig jobs or anything that pays a lower hourly rate.

To earn $1,000/month as a side hustle, I imagine you would have to:

• Get into some sort of consulting on the side (SEO, digital marketing, project management, etc.)
• Offer copy-writing services or do landing page work for businesses (these can be some high paying contracts).
• Find some other way to offer a business your services, since businesses are more likely to have the capital to pay monthly contracts worth $1,000 or more.

Back in college, a colleague and I had $1,000 contracts for SEO and paid advertising work, and I have heard of copywriters earning some impressive amounts of cash.

Hell, even bloggers who dabble in sponsored posts can make a killing, so it is certainly possible to make the coveted $1,000/month mark with enough time and dedication.

But even if you can't make $1,000 a month in extra income, you see the point: any additional income can be immensely powerful when invested.

Now, while making extra money is always welcome, I also want to touch on a few other benefits of side hustling because this concept is much more powerful than just increasing your net worth.

Other Factors Side Hustles Protect us From

1 – Avoiding Debt or Paying Off Debt Faster

Due to life events or circumstances, not everyone is able to invest the extra money they make. This is absolutely normal.

However, earning even a bit of additional income every single month from a passive income source or side hustle can be immensely valuable.

While in school, I sold textbooks, did freelance digital marketing, started a blog, and entered marketing competitions to help make money in college.

Ultimately, that money went a long way in helping with the cost of tuition/textbooks and general life expenses.

Even a humble $50/month side hustle can help prevent $600 worth of debt each year, or cover an expense like a phone bill or part of the grocery bill.

And if you factor in the interest you end up paying on loans, each side hustle dollar that is spent on paying off debt or mitigating it in the first place is actually more valuable than the base dollar amount in a sense.

2 – Income Dips or Unemployment

I work at a digital marketing company where commission is a pretty important part of what I take home at the end of the month.

For anyone else in a commission-based job, seasonal work, or an industry that fluctuates with pay-rates, you know that income dips are just a fact of life…not every month will be the same.

Additionally, depending on what country you live in, health care or certain worker compensation laws may or may not assist you in the event you have to take extended amounts of time off from work.

And, finally, depending on your industry and the job market in your country, there are varying amounts of risk when it comes to losing your job entirely.

While I am a firm believer that honest, hard working people will always make it out okay at the end of the day, the simple fact is that one's income can take a sudden and unexpected hit for a variety of reasons.

In the worst case scenario, having additional income streams in your life can be a saving grace.

This is essentially income diversification 101, and if you can successfully develop multiple income streams, you are accelerating your path towards financial independence while simultaneously reducing your risks.

Even if a side hustle only bring in a few hundred dollars every now and again, you can use this money to help build up an emergency fund that will buy you more time in the event your income dips.

In a way, having a firmly established side hustle is like a financial safety net. The more money your side hustle produces, the better and wider your safety net is!

3 – Stagnant Growth & Lack of Learning

I once had an internship at an insurance company where I was a ‘Ratings Tester'.

In the job description, it said I would be helping the company improve upon their current insurance policy rating system, as well as devise some new components for how the company would develop new plans.

In reality, I spent 4 months making fake people in an imaginary script-based world, assigning them wonky insurance policies, and trying to break the system. It was pure quality assurance work and brute-force bug testing at its finest.

Needless to say, I was miserable.

I also wasted an internship, and didn't learn anything useful beside the fact that I will never work in insurance as long as I live.

However, while I was forced to toil away at the world's shittiest version of The Sims video game for 8 hours a day, at night, I did my own thing.

It was at this time I started doing freelance digital marketing, reading about passive income, and brainstorming money making ideas to try.

Spending time on the things I was actually interested in brought enjoyment into my life, taught me a variety of new skills, and helped keep me sane.

If you are ever caught in a period of time where you are not learning or have become stagnant, starting a side hustle is an immediate way to remedy the issue.

Even if you are currently employed at a job that isn't unbearable, if you aren't consistently learning new skills and honing your talents, you are losing a competitive advantage to the people who are putting in the extra work.

Your side hustle can even accomplish more than simple income generation.

If the skills you learn from starting your own business or online venture complement the skills you need to do your job, you might even become a more valuable employee.

Or, in an even cooler scenario, the skills you develop from starting a side hustle might allow you to receive a promotion at work or suggest new ideas that benefit the company you work for.

For college students who still have to enter the job market, this concept is even more important.

Unless you are in engineering, some science, or a trade, I believe colleges are generally doing a poor job at teaching students any hard skills (or even how to think…but don't get me started on this).

I'm finishing my degree in Psychology/Marketing, and if I hadn't had internships or side hustles, I wouldn't know a damn thing!

Starting your own business or trying to make more money in college will make you more prepared and qualified to enter the workforce, so make the most of of your college years and learn through trial by fire.

Final Thoughts on Side Hustle Math

While starting your own business or attempting to make money online can seem daunting at first, I think it is important to remember a few important things:

• It's alright to start out small.
• Your side hustle income doesn't need to replace your full-time income.
• Investing your additional income or paying off debt faster are some of the most important things you can do, financially speaking.

Even if your side hustle never amounts to more than a humble $50/month income boost, make it happen.

It is impossible to grow or develop new skills without putting in any effort, and you might be surprised at where you end up after putting in some time.

And one more thing…don't forget to have fun!

If you want to take your side hustle money and go out for a nice dinner or buy someone a thoughtful gift, go for it.

I think it is easy to get lost in the calculators and long-term picture, and all too easy to forget that life isn't just about reaching financial independence as fast as you can.

Sometimes, you just need to treat yourself or the important people in your life to new things and experiences.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, and thank you to everyone who stuck around to the very end.

Catch you all in the next post!

The post The Simple Math Behind Starting A Side Hustle – Income Generation & Diversification appeared first on WebMonkey.