Sunday, July 12, 2009

What is The Simple Money Experiment?

You are probably wondering what exactly "The Simple Money Experiment" is. After all, right now it exists as a blog with only this post - but I am hoping it will grow to be much more, others will follow, and others will try to use this "experiment" in thier lives.

Essentially, this blog is based on three basic concepts. Saving money, making money with residual income on the Internet, and using this increased revenue to pay down debt.

Like millions of others out there (probably including yourself) I am facing debt, and struggling to make ends meet on the income I generate from my full time job. In two years time, I am hoping to win the battle...and hoping others like you will join me.

What is Simple Money?
I have incorporated the idea of simple money into my daily life. This means cutting down on my spending, not spending on items I do not need, and evaluating where my money is going on a monthly basis. This also means relying on the money I have, not using credit cards, and not dipping into my savings account (after all this defeats the "savings" part.) I will be making regular posts on how to save money, budgeting, frugal living, personal finance and more.

Granted, I am no expert in the finance field but I have found when you need to save or find additional money in your budget....if there is a will there is a way. I will share my "ways" and ideas with you, and hope you share your ideas in return.

What is The Money Experiment?
In 2008, I began the journey of attempting to use the Internet as a source of revenue. Like many of you out there I have tried almost every means and method available to make money on the Internet - and like many of you, I was met with limited success. However, about six months ago my journey had taken an unexpected turn when I discovered how I could use my writing skills to generate income.

At first I focused on sites like Associated Content, which allow content producers to submit their work for a flat fee and pay per view system. However, there is one flaw with the flat fee system - it will only produce revenue if you have the time to submit content. Flat fees are great for those who are in the "need money now" boat. But with a full time job I found my time to produce content limited, which limited my income potential as a result.

Eventually I discovered residual income, also called passive income. Currently, I am a content producer on eHow and new writer for Hubpages. My goal is in two years time to be generating a part-time income through residual earnings using both these sites. Eventually I hope this blog will be a contributor to my residual earnings as well - but know from experience it can take the most time to grow as a residual earning provider.

I also want to produce all these results without spending a dime. That means my blog will stay on a free blogging platform, and all my earnings research will be completed through free resources. (I will have to admit I have spent some money prior to this purchasing WriterGig's book for eHow...but more on that in a future post.)

The Goal of The Simple Money Experiment
As I stated previously, one of my goals is to generate enough residual income to start getting out of debt and in a two year's time frame earn a part time income. This will be my 6th month as a content producer on eHow and my first month as a writer for Hubpages. These will be the only two sites I use to generate passive income since my time is limited due to my full time job.

The other goal is to continue to find and share money saving ideas with you, and have you share your thoughts and ideas in return.

Keep in mind "The Simple Money Experiment" is begining with me earning a small passive income already due to my participation in the Writers Compensation Program (WCP) on eHow. I currently have 67 articles, and my revenue for last month was $46.

Good Luck to All and Happy Reading!