Andy Hough

April Income – $934.03

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Here is a breakdown of my income for April.

Online Income

$641.21

Interest

$24.80

Stock Dividends

$24.75

Mystery Shops

$66

Bank Bonuses

$140

Surveys/Cashback

$7.27

Focus Group

$30

Total

$934.03

It was a decent month for income.  I made over $900 without any job income.  I did start work at the end of April but I’ll be paid for those days this month.   Since I am working a job this month some of my other sources of income will be down this month but the passive income should be about the same.  Overall though I will have a significant increase in income this month.

April Expenses – $982.73

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for April.

Household

$385.35

Entertainment

$67.30

Transportation

 $320.77

Food

$86.84
Medical/Dental

$57.44

Phone

$35.03

Debt

 $30.00

Total

$982.73

April’s expenses were not too bad.  They did total less than $1000 which is a goal I always shoot for.   My expenses could have been much lower but I spent a lot in the transportation category this month.  This is because I paid for six months of car insurance and I spent a lot on gas visiting my GF who lives three hours away from me.  I consider that money well spent.  Tracking all my expenses does help with my budgeting but I doubt I will be able to get my expenses any lower this month.  I will be visiting my GF every weekend and driving my car for my job.  I will be getting reimbursed for my mileage for my job.  I’m not sure how I will account for that on my expenses.  I will probably just count the mileage reimbursement as income and my car expenses as expenses.  I did manage to keep my food expenses under $100 last month and until the end of the month when I went on a fast-food binge I was well under.  I think I should be able to match or beat that this month as long as I can keep my fast-food cravings under control.   My other expenses should be about the same this month.

New Job Update

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I apologize for the lack of posts in the last week. I was training for my new job and lacked any energy for the job after my work day. I am not made to sit inside for eight hours, especially not when most of that eight hours is spent listening to verbatim reading from an instruction book. This weekend was spent with my GF. Since she lives three hours away from me I don’t want to take away from my time with her to be on the computer.

The job should be much better from now on. I get to make my own schedule. I can work whatever hours I want and whatever days I want as long as I make reasonable progress on my work. I am naturally lazy which could lead to not working many hours but this job only lasts for a limited time and I want to make as much money as I can. My desire for money should offset my laziness.

This job pays $14.50 an hour plus I am reimbursed 50 cents a mile and I get paid from when I leave my home to when I return. This may not seem like much money to many of you but it is a lot to me. I have never had a job that paid nearly as much per hour. Some of my jobs probably paid more when you figured in tips, tokes, or commissions but this is the highest-paying job I have had for a straight wage. I hope I will have more jobs that pay even more than this. Or even better make more being self-employed.

Stay tuned I should have a post every day this week. At least I have post ideas for every day this week and I think I will actually get around to writing and posting them.

The Ethics of Bank Bonuses

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Last year I made about $1000 from bank bonuses. It looks like I will probably make about that much from them again this year. This is easy money since banks pay you just for opening a bank account. Their hopes are that once you sign up you will remain a customer.

Since I usually open these bank accounts just for the bonuses and then close them as soon as allowed under the terms of the bonus some feel that I am being unethical. I feel that since I am meeting the terms the bank made that there is nothing wrong with what I am doing. Sometimes I open an account for the bonus but end up keeping the account because I like it. ING Direct is an example of that. I opened the account for the $25 bonus and have kept it for years. Also, I have referred over 100 customers to ING Direct. I suppose some of those customers were also only opening the account for the bonus but I do not feel responsible for their motives. I feel like I have earned my bonus from ING Direct.

What do you think? Is opening a bank account just for the bonus unethical or just taking an opportunity the bank is offering?

Loaning Money to Friends

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It is generally advised not to lend money to friends because if the money is not paid back you end up losing your money and your friend. Despite this I recently loaned my friend $2,000 to help buy a truck he is going to use for business.

I think this loan is a good deal for both of us and I am not worried about if for a couple of reasons. One is that I have known my friend for 14 years and feel confident that he will repay me. He has helped me out on a smaller scale several times in the past. Another is that the terms of the loan were clearly stated and we both understand them exactly.

He offered to pay interest and I am charging interest on the loan. I am making more than I would at the bank and he is paying less than if he had taken a loan from a bank. He may not have even been able to get a loan from the bank due to his poor credit.

There are very few people to whom I’d make personal loans. Especially if they were unsecured loans. Have you ever loaned money to a friend or would you? If you have done so, would you do it again?