How I Got All of This for Almost Free

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I managed to buy all of this plus a little more for no money out of pocket at Staples yesterday. I posted before on how I save money with Staples ink cartridge recycling. The recycling program allows me to receive two dollars in rewards for cartridges that cost me about twenty cents. This amounts to a roughly 90% savings on everything I buy with the rewards. That is a pretty good deal but being a tight fisted miser I like to make the deal even better. I try to buy mainly stuff that is on sale and use coupons too. For the purchase above I used a $10 off $30 competitors coupon plus used a Staples 15% off coupon. I think the savings from this reward program are well worth the time it takes to recycle cartridges. We haven’t had to buy toilet paper or paper towels all year plus I’ve gotten lots of other stuff such as a router, ink, and lots of household and office supplies for almost free. Does anyone else out there get almost free stuff by using an office supply store’s ink cartridge recycling program?

Resolutions for 2012

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As the year comes to an end it is time to make resolutions for the new year. Last year I decided not to make any resolutions since I knew I probably wouldn’t keep them. I did make some monthly goals but didn’t do too well at meeting those either. I did have some achievements in 2011. I managed to pass the bar even though I’d been out of school for two years and didn’t take a bar prep course. I started making enough money online that I was able to live off my blogging income for the last half of the year. Also,my wife and I started a profitable offline business but I can’t take any credit for that since my wife did almost all the work in getting it started and keeping it running. This year wasn’t a bust but there is still plenty of room for improvement in 2012.

Here are my resolutions for 2012:

  • Lose Weight – I’ve made this a goal several times before but I’ve never made much progress on it and usually quit trying after a few weeks if not sooner. Next year that needs to change. I’ve gained even more weight this year and can tell it has affected my health. I have very little energy and am constantly feeling fatigued. I’m even tired when I wake up in the morning. I’m hoping that eating better, exercising, and losing weight will change that.
  • Write a Book – This was something I originally planned on doing in 2010. I managed to procrastinate on this for over a year. I plan on writing a short ebook and have all the information I need to write it. It should actually only take a few hours to write the book once I just sit down and do it.
  • Make More Money Online – I did great at making money online this year although that was largely due to luck. I plan to work harder at making money online in 2012. I’m going to develop several new sites and update my current sites on a more consistent basis. I’ll also explore ways to increase traffic and make more affiliate income.


    • Those are my resolutions for 2012 and I will write additional posts where I turn those resolutions into S.M.A.R.T. goals. I will also likely make additional goals during the year. Are you making any resolutions or goals for 2012?

    How Much Does Individual Health Insurance Cost?

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    One of the main worries people have about being self-employed is the cost of obtaining private health insurance.  I have my individual health insurance policy with and my monthly cost is cheap.  This is for a temporary policy with a high deductible though so it can’t be compared to a typical group health insurance policy.  My health insurance is to keep a catastrophic health event from bankrupting me rather than providing me with access to routine health care.  I also save a little money on my health insurance by being an affiliate for eHealthInsurance.

    A better comparison of my policy is to other individual health policies.  According to the ‘Cost & Benefits of Individual and Family Health Insurance Plans’ report the average premium paid for individual health insurance coverage in the United States in 2011 was $2,196 per year ($183 per month); families paid an average annual premium of $4,968 ($414 per month). The report also found that the average deductible for individually-purchased health insurance plans in 2011 was $2,935 for individuals and $3,879 for families.

    My current health insurance cost is under $50 a month with a $5,000 dollar deductible.  That is for a temporary policy though, if I had a regular policy I’d be paying about $80 a month for health insurance with a $5,000 deductible or about $100 a month for insurance with a $2500 deductible. Either one is still quite a bit less than the report shows for the average.   It looks like I can upgrade my health insurance once my temporary policy is done and still have health insurance that is quite reasonable in cost.  This for a 44 year-old, overweight male if you are younger and thinner you should get a better rate.

    The point is that private health insurance doesn’t cost as much as many people are afraid it costs.  If you’re considering self-employment or need your own health insurance policy for any reason I encourage you to check out the eHealthInsurance site.  It is easy to get a quote and determine how much health insurance would cost you.

    Online Income Report – November 2011

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    Here is a breakdown of my online income for November 2011.

    Google Adsense – $317.92

    Affiliate Income – $367.75

    Brokered Ads – $58.26

    Direct Ads- $2866.85

    Total – $3610.78

    My online income was down a bit from the previous month but it is still pretty strong.  I’m trying to increase my affiliate income so I’m not so dependent on direct advertising.  I did make a little progress on that in November but I need to put a lot more work into it.  The amount of time I spend to make this income isn’t much, I need to start putting in forty-hour weeks to really increase my online income.  And I also need to develop some more sources of alternative income and invest some of the proceeds of my online income to increase my passive income.

    November Income – $3713.69

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    Here is a breakdown of my income for November.

    Online Income

    		 $3610.78

    Interest

    $7.11

    Stock Dividends

    $32.45

    Cash Back/Surveys

    $63.35

    Total

    $3713.69

    November was another great month for income.  My online income was only $100 less than my record month the month before.  I will be happy if I can maintain that level this month.  My long-term goal is to increase it even more though.

    I’ve been concentrating on my online income and therefore I didn’t have any income in November from mystery shopping, bank bonuses, or selling stuff.  I know that I could always ramp those back up if my online income drops off.  I’d prefer to increase my passive income but that takes a little more time.  I plan on adding to my dividend stocks next year but right now I’m building up my cash.

    There will also be income from our offline business this month but I don’t include that in my income totals.

    An online income report breaking down my sources of online income will be posted on Friday.