Step by Step Finance » Extra Income

Penny Stocks..

1step — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:05:29 +0000

A co-worker came to me yesterday with a stock tip and what he’s been doing lately. Essentially buying low value stocks (penny stocks) and selling them in 1-2 days for a profit. He’s been doing well with this, but I question if I get into if I will get stuck in an endless wheel of losing days and earning days.

My gut tells me to just stick it out with my current retirement contributions and let my diversification play itself out. In the finance class I took in college, there was one example of how diversification lowers the overall risk of the investment, while maintaing similar returns. A good analogy would be the proverb “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” If you drop it, you won’t lose your meal

Either way, I am not a financial planner so feel free to ignore my ranting on this topic, I thought I’d get my thoughts down to convince myself not to invest in these penny stocks

Develop New Skills and Earn Money

1step — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:52:46 +0000

One of the biggest realizations that came to me early on after graduating from undergrad was that you are not constricted by the job you work in terms of earning money. Now this might seem like a no-brainer to many, but this was a foreign concept to me having come from a family that relied heavily on one source of income. Unfortunately, much like the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, this is not the best methodolgy to follow.
The restriction that comes from only doing one job is two-fold.
1 – Your current career might not go as planned and you could end up unemployed due to downsizing, finding someone that can do your job at a cheaper rate, a loss of work volume, etc..
2 – You lose an edge in being able to acquire new skills

I propose that to improve ones career, one should develop new skills – whether that is in management or in a technical manner that is different from what one is doing.
Take me for example. I took on extra projects and earned side income by utilizing those skills, albeit at a much lower work rate than I would’ve liked. That has actually led me to other projects (higher paying) and more opportunities to expand my career. It amazes me how much new skills offer outside of the actual knowledge you gain. It brings about a change in mindset and approach to problems that you would’ve never had, if you didn’t explore it.

If you are currently contemplating “so what do I need to learn?”. I don’t have an exact answer, but a guideline that you should follow an interest or passion and develop it to the fullest extent. From my experience, most people are not doing what they thought they’d be doing in their lives and have put things like their passions on hold. This mindset can lead to job unsatisfaction and a void in one’s life. So go ahead and set some specific actionable goals and small steps to get to those goals. I’m in the process of doing the same now (details removed for anonimity):

Start a website that connects _________ with __________ and earn a passive income of $10,000 per month.
- Identify appropriate infrastructure requirements
- Learn Ruby on Rails
- Create data structure and sketch out user interaction with site
- Identify revenue streams and income model

These are my beginning steps, and I’ll post more as I accomplish them. This being a side-project, it might proceed at a slower rate. What are you passionate about? Are you willing to try something new and exciting in your life?

Supplemental Income and Intangible Benefits

1step — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:10:09 +0000

In 2010, I was able to take on some projects on the side that earned me a modest extra 1,000. After taxes, not much at all, but I did gain some skills in programming and creating shopping carts This extra knowledge I’ve gained, was sponsored by someone that really needed help! I feel so good I was able to help someone, albeit at a discounted price for the amount of hours I’ve spent on the project, and learn a new programming language as well.
I can now use the gained knowledge for future projects and I’ve gained a happy customer!

Money On the Side

1step — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 23:01:31 +0000

Having a steady job certainly is a good thing, especially in this economy. However, it never hurts if you take on an extra project on the side if it will help bring in some extra money that you didn’t have before!
Easier said than done, but the opportunities do exist to not only earn money, but develop new skills.
For example, I took on a web design project that focused entirely in Flash. I’ve never really programmed in Flash, but it was always something that I wanted to do. This project allowed me to learn more about Flash, while still earning a bit of money. Grant it, the money I made, $500, was not even equivalent to earning minimum wage per hour spent, but it provided an incentive for me to learn while earning money at the same time. This has also helped build exposure to future clients.
I would definitely encourage anyone to look around for opportunities to apply their skills. It could be as simple as enjoying the outdoors and giving hiking tours on weekends, or mowing a few lawns for neighbors that don’t have the time!