BudgetMama

One of the questions people often ask me is if you really can get paid for doing surveys, and the answer is yes. I can speak from experience that you most definitely can. But can you make some regular dough, a substantial reliable part time income, or even enough money to quit your day job? Well, that’s what I am about to find out.

Some years back I tried my hand at paid surveys, and I have to say it was a major drain on my time, I spent hours upon hours registering with dozens of market research companies, filling in detailed profile forms that allow the research company to determine who to invite to participate in a survey based on demographics.

Occasionally I was invited to participate in a group forum, to watch some TV ads, or try out a new product. They were pretty good, paid about $80 for a couple of hours, but like I said, I was only invited to participate in a few, the rest of the time was spent clicking through 15 minute surveys online for a certain amount of points that would eventually add up to enough points to trade for a shopping voucher or movie ticket. There were cash rewards too, but not many. After a while I got quite sick of it.

You see the biggest problem I was facing was my location. I live in Australia, a country with a population of 21 million, and a relatively isolated place when it comes to market research, anyone would think we Aussies were a bunch a hillbillies, but it is what it is.  So, it was frustrating to have to pass up so many surveys that were paying great cash amounts because they were specifically for US residents and therefore I did not qualify…and BTW you can’t fib the system, your IP address tells them where you are.

So, fast forward about 8 years and I find myself wondering if things might have changed…

To find out I am ‘road testing’ a paid survey program. It’s the one advertised in my sidebar. I am doing this because I really want to give my readers fair and honest reviews of any products I agree to have advertised in my site (not including those google ads down the bottom, I can’t control those ones so your on your own there I’m afraid).

Anyway, I’m happy to say that it’s been quite exciting. The first thing I noticed was that I could use this one program to access loads of other offers without having to jump about all over the place. I could have the money earned from the different offers paid into my one account with the single program, so I had to give it a big tick there for streamlining.

After taking about an hour to register all my information, covering things like medical history, spending habits, size of family, interests, habits and so on I got straight into the offers I was eligible for and within another hour had easily recovered the cost of registering in the first place with a little bit more to spare. Bingo, I was very happy.

But, and don’t you hate that there is always a ‘but’; once again I found myself unable to participate in the big paying surveys as they were all US and UK residents only.

Conclusion, you definitely can get paid for doing surveys, but if you want to make serious money, you still need to live in a heavily populated area, mainly the US and UK, there are opportunities for people who fit into the ‘International’ demographic, but in my opinion, just not enough to warrant the time and effort.

I have not given up on road testing this program though because while I was in the members area it was painfully obvious that you can get paid for doing surveys and get paid pretty darned good too!

So, it just so happens that my BFF left our sunny Australian shores a couple of years ago and now resides in the big ole state of Texas. Did you know over 24 million people live in Texas, crikey! That’s more in that one little state than my entire country! So even though I have mourned her move and miss her terribly there is now a light at the end of the tunnel as I hope to be able to get her to try out this program from right in the heart of Texas, yee hah! So if you want to find out what happens you need to stay tuned. You can become a fan of this site on Facebook (again the link is in the sidebar) or just  hit one of the subscribe buttons at the top of the sidebar to get regular updates as I write them.

I’m looking forward to having more to say on this program and will do so soon

I’m just crazy about tabbouleh, seriously, I can eat it till the cows come home and I do. I make my own at least every week or two and it bugs the crap out of me (can I say that in my blog?) that I have to go to the shop and buy the ingredients. You see, I moved into this place about 6 months ago, leaving my beloved and seriously abundant herb garden behind.

Naturally one of the first things I did was get some herbs in the ground here at my new place but in the mean time every time I wanted some tabouleh I’d have to go to the shop and pay $3 for a little bunch of mint, and the parsley, $4! not to mention all the other ingredients easily grown at home like lemons, seriously, you just can’t kill a lemon tree!…honestly, you can pee on them and they love it!

Now I’m not saying everyone should take on a full on vegie patch, but at least get some herbs in the ground or in a pot. You just bung ‘em in there and leave them, they are so hardy. I mean how many times have you gone out and bought a bunch of parsley just to put a few sprigs on something as a garnish then thrown the rest of the bunch away? Well, I haven’t because like I said, I’m mad about tabbouleh, but many a time I’ve been out on a black op (getting groceries) with my little sis so that all cloak and dagger like she can pinch off a little sprig for free instead of buying and wasting a whole bunch.

So, finally at last my mint and parsley are going nuts, I have spring onions too, not quite ready at the mo, and my lovely neighbour has a massive lemon tree and always pops a few over the fence for me…tomatoes, well, not sure if I can be bothered with those this year, but on the mint and parsley alone I can now save $273 over the next 12 months, probably even more with summer coming as I’ll be making tabbouleh even more now.

So, next time you buy some fresh herbs at the grocery store, do what I do, buy the ones with the roots still attached, take the little bit you want and bung the rest in the ground, you will save heaps.  Chives, oregano, parsley, mint, and depending on your climate even basil are super easy to grow. And while your at it, invest in a lemon tree, just the small variety that you can keep in a pot.

Now, off to eat my tabbouleh.

It really does help to pay bills on time if you want to keep your credit rating intact, but of course doing anything on time requires a bit of organization. The following 5 BudgetMama tips will help you get organized with your finances and pay your bills on time.

1. Be Prepared: Get in the habit of setting funds aside out of each pay cycle to cover future bills.

Spend one evening with your previous bills to see how much you spend on regular services like phone, power, insurance etc and calculate the total for all these services on an annual basis. Divide that amount by the frequency of your pay cycle, so 52 if you’re paid weekly, 26 if you’re paid fortnightly and 12 if you’re paid monthly. The amount you arrive at is the amount you should set aside for bills; even on weeks they are not due. This will ensure you always have enough money to cover your bills without having to constantly juggle figures.

2. Keep the money you use to pay bills is a separate place

If you only use one bank account it can be very easy to loose track of your budget and accidentally spend money you had intended to reserve for something if the future, so open a separate account for your expenses. By putting a set amount of money calculated as above into this expense account you will always have enough money to cover a bill when it arrives, and if you receive something unexpected you can draw on this account also as long as you top it up and don’t fall behind.

3. Keep all your bills in one place

Misplacing bills is often the reason for not paying them on time. Sticking them on the fridge is one way to keep reminding you that they are due, however, the busy family often ends up with piles of things stuck there and they can get lost under the latest artwork, the school newsletter or appointment reminder. The solution is to designate one place to pop all your bills as they arrive, the top drawer of your desk if you have one or the top drawer of a dresser are ideal places.

4. Don’t use automatic direct debit arrangements if possible

Some companies insist on automatic withdrawals from your bank account as a method to ensure you pay your bill on time. Though they promote this ‘convenient’ system as a service to help you, in many cases it does not. If the funds are not available at the time the transaction is processed they can charge you an extremely inflated fee for having the transaction declined. At the same time your bank is likely to charge you another inflated fee for the same transaction. Your $30 a month gym membership can end up costing you $80 in fees simply because your pay went in a day late or there was a long weekend. Keep control of your money and pay the bill at the time you designate to pay the bill, even if it is a little late it will keep your costs down.

5. And finally, go techie and computerize your budgeting

It may seem a little daunting at first, but using a simple spreadsheet such as the BudgetMama System to keep track of your money will make a huge difference to your finances. If you’re really confident with your computer skills you can even utilize money management software like Quicken or Microsoft Money, but seriously, a simple spreadsheet is all you need to be able to keep track of the essentials, what is coming in, where it is going and when.

The most effective type of budget planner worksheet is usually the simplest one. Whether you choose to create it in a note book, accounts ledger or computer spreadsheet, by applying the K.I.S.S. principle (keep it simple stupid), you will be well on your way to achieving full control of your household budget.

Now when I say keep it simple stupid I am in no way implying that home budgeters are simple or stupid, far from it. Any woman who can proof read homework, make lunch, act as personal assistant to 3 kids under 10 and 1 over 30 all at the same time is pretty smart in my book. The point is that it doesn’t need to be complicated.

There are many budgeting systems available these days, but often they are quite complex and have many bells and whistles, flow charts, pie charts and complex methods of analysis. These are great if you need all these features or are planning to take over the stock exchange, but for most of us we simply need to keep on top of our household income.

The BudgetMama system in it’s simplest form is made up of 10 steps and like I said you can apply this to a notebook, a ledger, your own spreadsheet or of course my ready made BudgetMama Spreadsheet available here, but if you’re just looking for some simple steps to take here they are: 

1. Open 3 bank accounts. Everyday Account, Expense Account and Savings Account. Make sure your income is paid into your Everyday account and that it is easy to access.
2. Identify your budget cycle; do you have income every week, fortnightly or monthly?
3. Write down your total combined household income in each income cycle
4. Under the heading of Everyday Account, make a list of the expenses you usually cover straight out of your pay, such as fuel, groceries, lunch money etc
5. Under the heading of Expense Account make a list of the things you are billed for, such as phone, power, insurance etc.
6. Look over your previous bills to get a clear idea of what amounts you pay to cover these bills and when you usually receive them. Calculate an approximate annual total for each bill and an overall annual total for all bills
7. If your income cycle is weekly, divide your total bill figure by 52. If your pay cycle is fortnightly divide the total bill amount by 26 and if your pay cycle is monthly divide the total annual bill amount by 12. You now have a ’set aside figure’. This figure is the amount of money you transfer to your Expense Account every pay cycle
8. Now you know what your total combined income is. From this income figure you take away the total of the everyday things you cover straight out of your pay.
9. Next take away the set aside figure you have calculated based on your usual bills.
10. What you have left with is your ‘play money’, so transfer some of this to your savings account and keep the rest for your pocket to cover those little things like bread and milk throughout the week.

The above formula for a budget planner worksheet is based on that simple concept that what comes in needs to be more than what goes out, and you just can’t get any simpler than that.

At first you may find that your set aside figure needs to be quite high to cover your bills because if you have never budgeted this way before you will find yourself in catch up mode for a while. However, as you get into the habit of allocating your money to these three different accounts each and every pay cycle you will soon find that your set aside figure can be reduced and will even out.

As long as you have the discipline to stick to this simple system you will soon discover that your bills are always covered before they even arrive.