All good things come to an end

Blogging is something I never could have pictured myself doing in a million years. For me, I have never been completely comfortable with having others read my writing, let alone post it publicly. However by doing so I feel it has made me feel more comfortable in my writing.

When I first started my blogs on unemployment in January, My life was in a completely different place then how it is now. When I started my blogs, both my parents were unemployed, that is the main reason I picked this as my topic. I would have never guessed not even 4 months later that both my parents would be working great jobs.

I wanted to do this blog because I never really thought about how people were affected from unemployment until it really hit home. Throughout this blogging experience, I not only learned ways to be smart with my money but also started to understand myself better as a person. No one ever expects to become unemployed, therefore being prepared for the unexpected can be the wisest decision. 

Being a teenager, I never put into perspective how much it really does cost to live on your own or to maintain a household. Of course I do pay some bills and I do try to be independent however living at home is the greatest gift. 


Unemployment can make a person go from living comfortably to wondering how to provide the basic needs such as shelter and food. These struggles can cause emotional distress and health problems. 

Though I do not feel that I will continue to blog on this topic, I do feel that somehow in future I may decide to start again. This experience has opened my mind to writing and different topics and probably has changed my writing style for the best.

Being Cheap

A few weeks ago I talked about coupons and how beneficial they really are. I finally decided to try using them myself. Recently both Cheeseburger in Paradise and Ruby Tuesdays sent me $10 off coupons for meals.

I decided to go to Cheeseburger in Paradise as a treat to myself and my meal with a drink and tip only cost me around $5. It was such a relief to be able to still go out to eat without worrying about paying too much.

Another thing I have learned is that PTOs at schools will give out coupons or gift cards if you carefully read their news letter. Springwoods Elementary gave $15 off at On the Border. This coupon from the school had no exclusions or restrictions.

There are so many websites you can use to get coupons for free such as Smartsource.com, coupons.com, and also for restaurants check out restaurant.com.

This websites are free and can easily save you money without any effort. My favorite would have to be restaurant.com because they have specials where you can get $25 gift cards for only $10.

Quick Money

For businesses, times can be tough and not all companies are doing as well as others. Some businesses cannot give out the amount of hours an employee might need. Thankfully there are other ways for someone to make money.

Some ways include:

• Babysitting
• Dog walking (Watch Pets)
• Sell on ebay, Craigslist, Amazon, etc
• Collect your change
• Yard Sale
• Pawn merchandise
• Donate body parts

For some of these ideas, they are quite obvious. Babysitters and Pet sitters are always in demand. You can make flyers or talk to neighbors. Those jobs are not that difficult to come by. For babysitting the average pay is around $5-$9 an hour. The plus side to such jobs is that you do not have to pay taxes.

Selling merchandise or pawning items is only a good idea if you do not truly need or use the item. Selling off items to make fast money is not a good idea. At pawn shops, you can do a loan where you take about 10% of its value. You can either choose to redeem the loan, pay interest to keep the loan alive or forfeit the loan. 

Donating body parts usually includes donating to the sperm bank which for men can be about $40 per donation. Unfortunately, some sperm banks require a commitment period which is about 6 months to a year. Most sperm banks limit the man to 10 children or $6,000 a year. This is because most men donate for money rather then altruism.

Other body parts you can donate include female eggs. This process unlike sperm donation can be a bit more lengthy of a process. The process also comes with a lot of complication risks but the pay ranges from $3,000-$6,000 on average. Women should are limited also to how many times they can undergo this surgery.

These ideas are just simple easy ways to make money for someone who already may be working part time or full time but wants to make some extra money on the side.

References:

"Charging for babysitting" Babysitters4hire. Nannies Internation inc. Web. 2 Apr 2012. 

"25 (Unusual) Ways To Make Quick Money". Daily Finance. AOL Money and Finance. Web. 2 Apr 2012.

"What does sperm donation involve?" Stanford. Stanford Education. Web. 23 Apr 2012.

"Becoming an egg donor" Health.ny.gov. Department of Health. Apr 2009. Web. 23 Apr 2012.