Defending My Dreams

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It has been a dream of mine since I was young to be a writer and to own my own business. Since I have a good amount of savings, a minimum of expenses, and some income already established I am currently going to pursue that dream. I plan to make my living from my blog and other writing. When I tell people that I intend to make my living from my online endeavors I’m generally met with a negative reaction. I’m not entirely sure why this is.

There are some who are skeptical that I can actually make enough money to support myself. It is yet to be seen whether I can actually do so but I have plenty of money to pay my expenses while I’m trying to establish myself. Since I’m paying my own bills and I’m not responsible for anybody else I don’t see that it is anyone’s concern if I want to spend some time establishing myself as a blogger/writer.

The more common criticism is that I need to be working. And by working they mean I need to have a job. It seems to many that if you don’t have a job then you are not doing anything productive. This isn’t true. Lots of work doesn’t involve having a job and you can be plenty productive outside a job as well. If I am going to be successful at this I will need to do lots of work. Some feel that time not spent at a job is wasted time. Is writing a blog post that I don’t get (directly) paid for a waste of time? Is it being productive? I don’t think it is a waste of time and I think that I’m being productive. Those who think I should get a job probably think the opposite.

I’m not letting this criticism stop me. My feeling is that most people would love to pursue their dreams if they had the opportunity but are afraid to take a chance. I may not succeed but I will not regret trying.

Dropping Google Adsense

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Google search
photo credit: adria.richards
As you may have noticed I have dropped Google Adsense from this blog. This was making me about $30 a month but I’ve decided to drop it for a couple of reasons. The first is that I don’t like the amount of dependence my blog has on Google. This blog actually makes more from other income sources than it does from Google Adsense. Overall though, my online income is about 50% Adsense, 50% everything else. Google is my main source of traffic as well.

The second reason is because I can’t control what ads are displayed. I want you to be able to trust the ads that appear here. Any ads or links that I put in my sidebar will be for products or services that I have personal experience with and personally recommend. I plan to have my own products for sale here later this year and I want readers to trust what I offer them.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t want to make money. It just isn’t my primary purpose for writing this blog. I still have Adsense on my other blog Bank Bonuses which is all about making money. This blog is my personal blog though and I feel that its content reflects on me as a person. I will try to make up the $30 a month I’m losing by dropping Adsense. Perhaps having my affiliate links featured in the Adsense spot will lead to more conversions. I’ll also experiment with other affiliate products that I think would be a good fit for this site.

The Crazy Cost of Health Care

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Stethoscope & ophthalmoscope
photo credit: a.drian

The cost of health care seems crazy. I had some lab work done last month and for one lab test I was charged $110. My insurance company decided that a fair amount for this test was $7. My total bill of over $450 was reduced to a total of $50.50. If I wouldn’t have had health insurance I would have been ripped off. This experience makes me wonder if the lab seriously overcharging at $110 or the insurance company is seriously underpaying at $7 or both.

I think that something needs to be done to better the nation’s health care system. I’m not necessarily advocating a nationalized health insurance plan. There would be plenty of drawbacks to such a system. I’m not sure what the answer is. For now, I just plan to keep my health insurance,check out my health care costs ahead of time as much as possible, take better care of myself, and hope for the best. With luck this will keep my health care costs from getting too crazy.

Becoming a Nomad Blogger or ?

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XelaPeristyle
photo credit: Infrogmation

After discovering the site JetSetCitizen a couple days ago and reading all the “nomad” bloggers he linked to I have decided that I too could become a nomad blogger. It doesn’t take too much money to live abroad. My blog doesn’t quite make enough money to cover what my living expenses would be while living abroad but it comes fairly close. If I were to work in the U.S. a few months of the year and live abroad the rest of the year I should be able to cover all my living expenses and even get ahead a little.

After thinking this over for a very short time I made a rash decision and purchased a plane ticket to Guatemala for a three-month stay. I probably should have thought this over a little longer but I had only slept three hours the night before and that often leads to me making hasty decisions. Hopefully, this one will turn out all right.

I’m already having second thoughts because I keep thinking of the other things I want to do like buying a house or van. It is possible to do both I just need to come up with a plan. Now that I’m out of school I’m having a hard time deciding what to do next. My plan for now is to hike for about a month and a half and then go to Guatemala for three months. After that I’ll decide on a more permanent plan. Fortunately, I have the money to be wishy-washy for a while.

Another post that inspired me was Nora Dunn’s post on how to travel full-time for less than $14,00 a year.

The picture at the top isn’t mine but I used to visit that park almost every day when I lived in Xela, Guatemala. It is a beautiful little park.

Alternative Income Activities This Month

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I have a goal of doing something every day this month to make extra money. We are just a third of the way through the month and I can see this goal is going to be difficult to meet. I want to come up with a different alternative income activity for every day and I’m already running out of ideas and falling behind. Here is what I’ve done so far this month.

  1. Launched a PPC campaign.
  2. Pinecone Survey.
  3. Law School Survey.
  4. Capital One Purchase Checks. Check out this FW thread to see how to make money with these credit card checks.
  5. Order dollar coins.  Here is a FW thread on making money ordering dollar coins.
  6. Moved money from non-interest bearing account to 5.01% APY reward checking account.
  7. Sold extra books to Half-Price books.
  8. Medical Study.
  9. Added new Adsense ads to Tight Fisted Miser and Bank Bonuses.com and tweaked placement of existing ads.
  10. Sold CD at Second Spin.

None of these items are very big money makers and in the case of the PPC campaign it might be a money loser.  I need to come up with some money making ideas that have more potential.  If you have any ideas you want to sure I’d love to hear them.