How Little Bits Can Add Up | brokeGIRLrich
A long time ago, I had this idea that I would side hustle some Tieks by using UserTesting – a pretty easy side hustle where you spend 10-20 minutes reviewing a website for $10 a pop.
The work isn’t always available, but over time, it seemed plausible that I could earn enough to pay for these $200ish splurge shoes using this method.
Well that went a little by the wayside and I did wind up buying a pair of Tieks (spoiler alert: they suck – though we could all probably learn a lot from their marketing).
However, recently I’ve been thinking about that project again as I’ve been thinking about the dribs and drabbles that have been dripping into my life the last few months.
There’s still the occasional UserTesting income.
There was the little Pinata stunt.
There was finally a payout from those thieves at PeggyBank and Groupon.
There are occasional dividend checks.
I make a tiny amount working a second part time job.
There was the money I made transcribing during that slow period over the winter.
There’s even what I make here with brokeGIRLrich. Some months it’s impressive, but honestly, most months it’s still just another little bit that helps out my income.
Sometimes I start to wonder what the point is in putting in any of this effort.
That goal I set to add $1,000 a year to my investments, does it really matter?
The evenings I let UserTesting run in the background while doing other work, so I can pop over and see if I qualify to check out the newest website when there’s a ding. Is that worth it?
Spending 3 hours staring at frozen food in a Whole Foods, trying to get people to try granola samples. What’s the point?
Waking up early after getting home from work after midnight to go work for a few hours at a second job that doesn’t offer me many shifts?
It’s so hard to see the point in the short term sometimes. It’s easy to feel beaten down and overwhelmed sometimes.
But even little amounts can add up.
Since I started, I’ve made $283.00 with UserTesting. That’s that pair of Tieks and then some.
Giving up just two Saturday mornings netted me $135.25 from Pinata.
Forcing myself to invest results is about $25 per quarter – not even counting the money that’s invested. And I don’t have to do anything for it. It just appears.
And then there’s brokeGIRLrich, which started out as a little bit and sometimes actually adds up to a big bit.
So if you feel like I do sometimes and wonder why on earth you’re bothering with this extra work as your alarm goes off at 7 AM when you could be sleeping in – know that the little bits can and do add up.
Oh the mind. It’s so hard to remind myself sometimes that little bits of something do add up. At the moment its easy to tell myself, whats the point its too small you’ll never make progress with that, go back to sleep.
But you can’t build a mountain if you disrespect the grains of earth and you can’t make an ocean if you disrespect drops of water..
DW @TheMoneyTemplate recently posted…How to Increase Small Business Economic Growth
And money mental shifts don’t happen overnight. Adding up all the little things you learn has a big impact overall.
It can be hard to see the end result when the money’s coming in a little at a time. I know I just got $50 from a mind-numbing panel marketing study. It seemed like just a little bit, but it was $50 for 3 hours and that’s way more lucrative than surveys or the freelancing I’ve managed so far, or the blog.
Hey, these little side hustles at least give you something to write about. Maybe they interrupt some sleep, but they are adding up, and I think it’s the hustle mindset that these represent that makes you successful.
Emily @ JohnJaneDoe recently posted…Consequences: The Hardest Lessons You’ll Teach Your Kid
All those miscellaneous bits definitely add up, especially if you have one goal you’re putting them towards. We always make sure to include them on the income side of our monthly budget so we don’t forget they’re there and squander them.
Gary @ Super Saving Tips recently posted…Avoid a Summer Meltdown with These Ways to Keep Cool
I agree. It’s why I “waste” my time with Ibotta and why I signed up for Digit again. It’s why I’m ramping up my efforts with blogging because I really want to see if I can make more money. And, it seems like I can understand this with money, but not with my creative work. If I put in little bits of time on a project, it will add up. The same for exercise. The same for anything, really. Small moves. Small bits. Thanks for the reminder.
Amanda recently posted…My 2017 Mid-Year Review
I’m not making much from my blog, but there are a lot of small trickles of money that add up to something more significant. For me, those bits and pieces are tearing down my debt a little at a time. But when it’s little bits, you sure have to work harder to convince yourself that it’s worth it!
Jamie @ Medium Sized Family recently posted…The Brutally Honest Truth About Paying Off Big, Ugly Debt
Your Tieks are one thing that I’ve found helpful when it comes to extra time/extra money working. Namely, I set a goal that can be reached in a reasonable length of time, and apply the money there. If I work a lot of overtime, I like to spend the money all in one place–this is our vacation, my new dress, a new…., the idea being that if I can look at it and name it as the result of my extra labor, the extra labor seems worth it whereas if it just gets rolled into everyday expenses, I wonder why I bother.
RAnn recently posted…Can You Make Money with Amway or Other MLM Companies
Huge believer in this! Big wins excite us, but the little ones cumulatively tend to be more achievable and keep us afloat.
Femme Frugality recently posted…Tips for Moving with Children