As most of you know I have been on a quest to discover money saving ideas over the last year. I am not a naturally stingy type person by nature, in fact, I am more spontaneous and care free. At the same time, when you start to see how much of your hard earned money you really can save it becomes a wonderful game.

Today, I want to spend some time discussing one of my favorite ideas for saving money. I am surprised that more people do not employ this idea into their personal finances. We as customers forget that we are in fact just that…customers. In a free society we can do business with whomever we choose.

There are a lot of saving money ideas but here is my favorite so far:

Just Simply Ask

Profound isn’t it? I know, I know, you just fell out of your chair and spilled your coffee (sorry about that!). Seriously, you need to remember that it is your money and you can do with it whatever you please. You are the one who is in control. You call the shots.

I think many times we have this mentality that we have to accept package A, B or C if we want the service or the product. That is just not true. Companies want (wait…backspacing…..NEED) your business.

Everything gets better when you try to walk away.

That is right! You can save a lot of money by empowering yourself and your finances. Now, I am not talking about taking advantage of people and being down right rude. Instead I am encouraging you to use your mind and don’t just go with the herd.

Some quick examples from my own life. We love TIVO. Maybe I am somewhat of a control freak but I want to watch TV on my time and I don’t want to program a VCR. About a year ago, we called them up and said we are trying to cut back on our expenses and before I could say a thing they gave me a deal. They offered the next 6 months for free if I wouldn’t cancel. We took it!

I don’t have DirecTV anymore, but when I did I had a similar experience. They gave us 3 months for free. Just call down your bills and see what they can do for you. You might be surprised, but you will never know if you do not ask! Just simply ask! Stay tuned to the blog for some more money saving tips and ideas.

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This blog is dedicated to providing simple steps on a directed path. Whether you are looking to create good habits for saving money, earning income, reducing debt, enjoy better health, or just simplifying life, this blog will reveal to you the straight facts.

The truth you can make easy money online, once you know how it all works. I know what you are thinking. Only people who tell people how to earn money online are making any money. Well, I think that used to be the case but things have changed.

In my opinion, Google changed the whole game (or enhanced it). Google has an enormous amount of users every single day. What do people use Google for?

Think hard.

To find answers to their problems!

Now, while that may not seem like a big revelation…it is. If you can learn how to create content that helps to solve problems or point people in the right direction you can make a living online. Google has perfected the art of placing the most relevant content to the top of the page when you are searching for something. Once you learn how to create good content, you can easily get the eyes of many people in a particular niche.

I have tested out many money making ideas online and gone down some rabbit trails, but I want to give you my top 5 making money ideas that you can use to start earning some extra money (or full time if you desire). I know these work because I have done all of them.

1. Freelance Writer – Many websites online desire desperately to get on the 1st page of google for many keywords. This has created a enormous market for writers online. Let me assure you that you do not have to love to write or be an awesome writer to be successful. Simply put, companies cannot trick google and gain the top spot. That means the playing field is level between you and the big companies. So, companies are hiring and paying people as much as $15 or more for a 300 to 400 word article that would take you about 30 to 60 minutes to complete.

Demand Studios is one that I have enjoyed and have made several $1000 of dollars every month writing articles on topics I enjoy. They pay by Paypal every week. Think about this. Got a vacation coming up? Spend a few hours every evening writing short articles about things you enjoy and put an extra $800 in your pocket for your trip. Easy.

2. Web 2.0 Writer - There are many websites showing up everyday that are willing to share the revenue from their website with you. All you need to do is create content (start with passions, hobbies and interests) and they will place relevant ads around your content. You will get paid every time people click on any of those ads. Imagine if you created a ton of content?

Here is a short list of some of the popular ones:

• Squidoo – They have several methods of ad placment and revenue sharing
• HubPages – Will split all of the Google Ad click revenue with you. You receive 60% and they get 40%.
• eHow – Explain to people how to do things step by step and they will share revenue and reward you with page views.
• InfoBarrell – just like hubpages. They will share revenue with you for creating content.

3. Start a Niche Blog – There are many ways for you to make money with a blog. In fact, I have a ton of information that I could give you on that topic. But for now, I will keep it simple. All of us have an area of expertise that we could share with the world. You have had experience in areas where other people could benefit from your knowledge. If you are willing to open yourself up and pour out that knowledge, you will be surprised at how many people will benefit. You can start a blog for free. You can also get your own domain for $10.00 and pay as low as $2.95 a month to host your blog. It really is not as complicated as you might think.

You can make money on your blog several different ways, but here are a few:

• Advertisements (people will contact you and want your traffic)
• Services (can you provide some coaching in your niche?)
• Affiliate Products – You can post reviews on products and share the revenue with the product creator)
• and much more!

4. Start a Membership Site – One of the coolest things I have done online was to start a membership site. There is nothing like having a passive income for something you created once. In one of my niche blogs, I opened a simple membership site using WordPress, PayPal, and Aweber. It may sound more complicated than it really is.

Here are the functions of each:

• WordPress – Is a simple blogging platform that makes it super easy to create webpages. This blog was made by WordPress. If you can use Microsoft Word then you can use WordPress.
• PayPal – I am sure you know what PayPal is but did you know you can easily set-up a subscribe button. Meaning if someone clicks on the button you can bill them for say $27 every month until they choose to cancel or your training has ended.
• Aweber – Is an email auto-responder. I use to deliver each week’s content for my membership site. So, Let’s say I had a membership called Grocery Coupon 101. (I don’t even have one although my wife is really into it). If I decided to make it a 16 week course then I would have Aweber send the members an automatic email every week delivering to them the correct web address for that week’s content. That way people can sign up whenever and Aweber keeps track off it all. I do nothing but let the system deliver the appropriate content at the right time. Click here to find out more about Aweber.

I learned how to put this entire system together using Russell Brunson’s Micro-Continuity Program. In fact, in his next release he wants to use my membership site as a testimonial on his home page. I just followed his steps and had members in no time.  You can get a free MP3 with over 4 hours of training by clicking through this referral link: Micro-Continuity Free MP3 Offer.

5. Build a Super Site – You really need 3 things to pull this off in my opinion:

• Time (or persistence over a period of time)
• A Passion for the subject – you need to have a deep well to draw from and the ability enjoy it.
• The right knowledge – you need to know how to gain traffic and which keywords are the best to target. By targeting the right keywords, you can get free traffic from google by easily getting listed on the first page.

As an example, do a search for “drills for basketball” and at the time of this writing I was in the #1 spot in google. On my my many niche sites is drillsforbasketball.com

I was able to get that spot, within a week after registering the domain name. As you can tell, I haven’t spent a lot of time on it as I am focused on other projects, so there is always a chance that it could scoot down over time. However, If I spend a little time every now and then I can easily keep it in that spot.

I learned how to easily do this using the Keyword Academy Methodology. They are willing to offer  readers of my blog a 30 day trial for $1 through my referral link. Just click here: Keyword Academy.

Well, I need to stop this post at some point. I will definitely add more details in further posts, but I just wanted to provide you the hope that there are many legitimate money making ideas online.

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1. Some Peace of Mind - There is something refreshing about having at least $1000 set aside for any minor emergencies that might happen. Of course, $6000 makes you feel even better, but remember, this blog is dedicated to taking small steps on a directed path.

2. Stop Using Credit Cards – If you have a baby emergency fund in place then you will be less likely to pull out the credit card if the tire goes flat or the dishwasher stops working (and no, I am not referring to your wife!).

3.  Sense of Accomplishment - It just plain feels good when you have actually made a smart choice with your money. So many of us have lived paycheck to paycheck way to long and even saving $1000 starts to create momentum in your life.

21 Ideas for Creating Fast Cash for an Emergency Fund

I have used many of these ideas below personally and believe that they can help you as well. Some are more profitable than others but each of them you can do from the comfort of your own home and at your computer. To get to $1000 quickly, just combine several of these together at the same time.

1. eBay – You would have to be living in a hole to not have heard of eBay. It is a global garage sale. You will be shocked at what people will buy on eBay. Do not be afraid to put just about anything out there because you will probably sell it.

2. Craigslist - is great for easy, local sales. It is also ideal for anything big that you do not want to ship like the extra freezer in the garage, the hot tub that no longer works, or the extra car that you want to sell.

3. Article Writer for Demand Studios – I love Demand Studios and believe that it is a great resource for fast cash. They will pay you by Paypal twice a week for any work that you have done. You do have to send in a sample writing but you do not have to be an experienced writer to get in the program. There are thousands of topics for you to choose from and most articles only need to be 350 to 500 words long. Most articles will pay $15 and can be written in about 30-45 minutes.

4. LiveWork – has various projects that you can work on at home on your time and your schedule. They will also pay by Paypal.

5. Yard Sale – Most of us know Yard Sales can make good money, but we just do not do it. Even if you only make $100 to $200 it is time well spent for a Saturday morning. Divide the money you make into the hours you worked and I bet you will be happy.

6.  Sell Your Books – Are you a book lover like me? While I agree that some books are keepers, there are still many others that you should sell and create some extra room in your house. Cash 4 Books does just that. You simply open a free account, collect all your books, and then type in the ISBN number which can be found on the back of the book. They will then tell you the amount that they will pay you for your books and then you can print off a shipping label so that your shipping is free. Doesn’t get any easier then that!

7. Trade in Your Gold – My wife had fun with this one. Got any old gold jewelry laying around? Well. you can trade it in for cash! My wife did this a few months ago and received over $350 and she was shocked. Her jewelry fit into a zip lock bag and it was old jewelry that she was no longer using anyway. Some of you might get your entire emergency fund from this idea.

8. Title Editor for Demand Studios – Another great position that you can work for Demand Studios. If you understand basic grammar, spelling and capitalization then you can do this job. I got on and dedicated some evening and night hours to it and made between $500-$700 in a week or two. The money is there to have if you can put the time into it.

9. ODesk.com – This is a great freelance website. There are all kinds of work that is being requested on this site. It is free to join and you can start bidding on projects to work today.

10. Become a ChaCha Guide – This is a neat little site. People text questions about weather, sports scores, politics, and entertainment. Meanwhile, the question comes to you on your computer, you go find the answer and then you get paid. The questions come in continuously if you are logged into the system.

11. Save Your Coins – This one may sound cheesy but you would be surprised. Take a jar and set it somewhere in your house and empty your pockets every night. The money will accumulate faster than you think!

12. Subvert and Profit - Great  little website that will pay you to vote for articles on various social media sites like Digg and Stumble Upon.

13. Word Gigs -  Simple writing projects that will pay you $2-$4 for every completed project.

14. Save 60% on Groceries -  Save money on groceries and then take the extra money and apply it to the emergency fund.

15. Save Money by Switching to Pre-paid Cell Phones – All of us spend way to much money on our cell phones if we were honest. We would never pay those prices for home phone service. Try switching to pre-paid and only pay for what you use.

16. Make money reviewing websites online UserTesting.com – cool website that will pay you for rating websites.

17. Guru.com – Another freelance website that has projects you can bid on.

18. Elance.com – One of the most popular websites for freelancers. There are projects that you can bid on that cover just about everything.

19. Scriptlance.com – Mostly designed for the “techies” among us but still many projects get posted on here daily.

20. TextBroker.com – another writing websites with thousands of topics to choose from. Just pick topics you have a passion for and get paid.

21. Additional Ideas look at workplacelikehome.com forums – I love this forum as it has tons of ideas on how to make extra cash online. Sign up for a free account and start looking around for even more ideas.

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This past week Dave Ramsey spoke at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. There were several influential leaders present and many great sessions. However, one highlight that stood out among many is the Dave Ramsey session.

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He presented a talk entitled “The Momentum Theorem.”  Basically, the momentum theory states this:

Focused intensity over a period of time, multiplied by God, will create unstoppable momentum.

Read that again and really allow yourself to digest that statement. From personal experience, I am a big believer in focused intensity. It is one of the main principles that has made my life work and I have tried everything. Focused intensity will also help to breaking habits that we want to get rid off as well. We live in a world of incredible choices and the problem is that we only have so many hours in our day. When you focus all your intensity on a single goal and pour all your energy into it you will be amazed at the outcome over time.

I read a great illustration that drives this point home in the book “The Power of Less.” If you were to take a vial of red dye and pour it into the ocean, you would see no noticeable difference. However, if you took that same vial of red dye and pour it into a glass, you would see a change.

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Why is That?

There is power in focused intensity. Decide today that you resign from being General Manager of Multi-Tasking. I used to think that multi-tasking meant that you were really talented, but now I see it as being spread too thin.

Dame Ramsey’s Major Points

1. To obtain momentum you must have focused intensity. You see the problem with multi-tasking is that we spread ourselves out way too thin. It would be like taking an axe and swinging one time at several different trees. However, if we take all our daily swings at one tree we will see the change and that momentum will become addicting. Not only that but very tree no matter how big will eventually fall with that type of intensity.

2. Momentum doesn’t happen overnight, instead it builds over time. Momentum is not something that happens in a day. It is something you really see in retrospect. You will look back and be amazed at how much progress you have made when you have applied focused intensity. The problem is most people quit before they get the big ball rolling. They plant in the Spring, nurture all Summer and then quit before the harvest in the Fall. Momentum needs some time to get started so do not become quickly discouraged.

3. Momentum does not happen apart from God. We need to make sure not to factor God out of this equation. If we want to do anything of lasting value, then we need God to intervene. Without God we are walking blind through life not really certain where to focus our energy. I don’t know about you, but when God gives you a vision for your life, it is usual way beyond your own capabilities. You need God to get involved if that dream in your heart is ever going to come true. Or maybe you are under much debt and you wonder if you are ever capable of getting out from under this burden. You need God to show up. Momentum doesn’t happen without God as He is the one directing your steps.

Proverbs 12:28  In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death. (NKJV)

4. Momentum is unstoppable. Once you get that big ball rolling down the hill it will be impossible to slow it down. The difficulty is in the first half. Every new habit or goal has a tipping point. A new habit will feel like you are fighting against gravity in the beginning, but just keep telling yourself that things will get easier (cause they will!). Dave Ramsey ended his speech with a Winston Churchill story. Churchill said:

“Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

May we all develop that kind of resolve when it comes to accomplishing all God wants us to be in this life. Find a goal and place focused intensity on that one goal!

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