Gains With Payne

Basic finance stuff I learned the hard way.

[gainswithpayne]

Change Your Life for The Price of a Starbucks Run

Learn how to make $2000+ per week from home, on your own schedule!  Learn how for just $7.

Tell Me More!

Yes, you can get the same information for free from Youtube. But when I was starting my work from home journey, I had no idea where to begin - it seemed every Youtube video I came across was boasting some sensational amount of money and lots of scammy affiliate links.  The content I found was confusing, it seemed too good to be true, and it was hard to trust any of the information I found because they all had something different to sell me. I decided to try the 15-day challenge and document my process.  What the heck, $7 isn't a lot, and it seemed like lots of people really liked the program and had success with it.  If it's just a scam, I'm only out seven bucks, right? Quickly, I was surprised by how much valuable information this course contains. This is NOT a get rich quick scheme, but it is a $7 course which helps you lay the groundwork to build upon if you want to work from home and learn how affiliate marketing works. This valuable course will teach you how to create sales funnels, email lists, how to stay legal with affiliate marketing, copywriting skills, and much, much more!  This is your first step to developing high-income, work from home soft skills which will apply to an endless number of remote, flexible schedule jobs. Are you ready?

Count Me In!

this post contains affiliate links.

[gainswithpayne]

Want to Get Into Crypto Mining for FREE?

No expensive equipment needed, just your smartphone and a free app.

Pi is an up-and-coming crypto currency which is in phase two of three of development right now - so it’s open to mine, but not to trade.  YET!  It is projected to hit the market in 2021 though, so now is the time to jump on the bandwagon.

This FREE opportunity is invite-only!  Don’t miss out!

Here’s how to get started:

1. Download the app.

2. Use referral code paynetb to sign up for FREE.

3. Push the “mine” button every 24 hours.

4. Watch your crypto pour in - nothing else needed!

No battery life gets used up, it doesn’t slow your phone down, it doesn’t track anything, it literally just runs and generates you what may turn out to be thousands of dollars of passive income.

Now, I am not saying this crypto is going to be your shot to the moon - We can’t ever know what ones are going to do well and which ones will flop.  However, in about a month I’ve gained about 125 Pi coins for doing basically nothing.  Once it fully releases for trade, I can either convert it to ETH, Bitcoin, fiat currency or keep it as such depending on what it does in the market.  

There is some speculation that it may jump up to $25 per coin, which would give me over $3000 of passive income just from pressing a button on my phone every day for a month.  Or it could be worth a penny and all I make is a buck!  But I’m happy to press that button every day just for the heck of it.

You’d be foolish not to!

[gainswithpayne]

Say “Yes”

Today I had an opportunity come my way that I knew from the start probably would not interest me.  It was a company requesting me to do work for them, one that I have dealt with and had positive experiences with in the past, but for me to accept a contract with them at this time, it would highly inconvenience me.

But when I got the phone call, I did not say no.  Never say no right away.

Instead, I listened to their offer. They were very eager to sign me up and get me all on board, and I was very eager to hear how wonderfully they would be willing to compensate me for extending myself above and beyond for them.  I let them know exactly what terms I would need in order to agree, and it did become clear that they were not able to meet my requirements.  But, we will be speaking again in the fall to revisit the arrangement, and I look forward to the prospect of working with them again when the time is convenient for me.

Don’t say no right away.  This contract did not work out, as I knew from the beginning, but I took the time to communicate and try to collaborate.  Instead of saying no to an opportunity you think won’t work, instead ask yourself “What would it take for me to say yes?” and then ask for that!  You will be shocked at what types of things you are able to accomplish this way.

The hard part is already done, see.  Whoever is trying to make you an offer already wants you.  You don’t have to sell yourself, you can pass “go”, collect $200, and cruise right into the negotiation phase.  You may still reiterate what they already know about your skill set and competency, but if they didn’t already believe in you as the best candidate, they would not be wasting any time by asking.

This is where setting your value comes in.  I bet, for the right price, you would do almost anything, barring anything illegal or immoral.  Negotiations like these is where the rubber meets the road with that assumption - Don’t think of it as a yes or no scenario, think of it as a “What do they need to do and give me in order for me to feel great about saying yes?” 

Doing this has gotten me free upgrades, higher pay, better benefits, promotions, amazing job offers, vacation time... There really is no limit.  You just have to be brave enough to ask, and you will be shocked at how much you can actually get for yourself with ease.

[gainswithpayne]

Time Value: Part 2

Part 1, we talked about how to tally up the price you should aim for for an hour of your time.  Now we are going to talk about how I balance this in my own life.

I am a nurse, so I make the most money per hour at my nursing job.  I make even more if I pick up a bonus shift, but I don’t always have the mental and emotional juice to do so.  If I’m not feeling like taking overtime during my time off, I’ll take an appointment at my caregiving job which is my second highest paying job.  

Some days I wake up not feeling like seeing or talking to anyone, so I’ll choose to spend a few hours delivering for DoorDash or Instacart, which is my lowest paying hustle but the least mentally taxing because I can mostly listen to podcasts and drive around, which I do for self-care days anyway.  

I only make about $15-$20 per hour doing delivery apps, but I’ve spent that time enjoyably and productively and have avoided getting burnt out.  This is also useful time to spend listening to enriching podcasts and books that contribute to your financial education, but that is not always necessary - sometimes I just want to veg out and listen to some comedy, and that’s okay!

All of this while I still have some money coming in from my various investments, roommate which is fairly passive, and my online store.  More on how to set up these income streams later!

If I can’t fit in any hustle time due to a meeting or some other obligation, I make sure I spend some time working on my blog, marketing, or contributing to my financial/investing literacy by reading or listening to something.  These are things which can be done from your phone in a waiting room, while doing chores, driving, etc. and are just as valuable and important as spending time making money.  Check out my post about my favorite financial literacy books, as well as a FREE way to get them here!

[gainswithpayne]

Time: How To Label Your Worth

I talked recently about rich people mindset vs. poor people mindset.  Here is a practical way in which it fits into your overall budget.

Before you start any side hustle, you need to decide how much your time is worth.  Actually, I recommend doing this at any point when you are trying to figure out your budget.

Why is this essential?

Well, you want to make as much money, as fast as possible, with the least amount of effort - correct? 

This is where we start.

Say your day job pays you the most of all your hustles at $30/hour, and you work 9-5, four days a week.  That means each hour of your time is worth an average $30.  However, say your day job offers you overtime at a “time and a half” rate of $45/hour. So your time “off” is now worth $45 an hour, assuming overtime is available to pick up.  

According to your maximum source of income, your time is worth between $30-$45 per hour, depending on the availability of work to do.

That means in order for any other side hustle to be worth forgoing the overtime, it must yield you more than $45 per hour OR be more enjoyable.  That second thing I said... Read it again.  OR BE MORE ENJOYABLE.  There will be another post to come about this later, but just know that burning yourself out does NOT equal success.

I hate when side hustle lists try to get you on to using survey sites like inbox dollars.  You make pennies per hour on those things, and an hour of your time is worth more than pennies.  You could get a very, very part time job at McDonald’s and make gobs more than a survey site will ever give you, plus you get free food.

This concept helps you understand when to say yes to a side hustle or gig opportunity, but also when to say no or negotiate a better rate of pay.  

Now, I am not saying that you should never do anything unless it makes you the same money as your day job.  I am saying, use that as a guide.  Never turn down a higher-paying option for a low paying side-hustle, and when you have multiple side-hustles and gigs, prioritize based on pay, effort, and enjoyability.  There are exceptions to this such as when you own a small business, but in general when starting out, go for the higher paying option OR the lower effort option.  Your time is worth top-dollar, and so is your sanity.

Part 2 will go into how I prioritize my side hustles to make the MOST money with the most enjoyment and least effort!

[gainswithpayne]

Rich People Mindset Vs. Poor People Mindset

I will never forget an important lesson I learned from one of my best friends and mentors - I had been talking about going back to school, and how I wasn’t sure if I needed additional scholarships since my job had a program which paid for a good portion of the semester.

He said, “You’re wrong.  That’s the poor people mindset, you need to think bigger.”

I asked him to explain.

He went on to tell me that poor people only think in terms of the minimum amount needed for barrier removal. (“If I only had $5000 to cover most of the semester, I have enough in savings to cover the books and supplies.”) Whereas, rich people think in terms of an all-encompassing expense.  

For school, this means not only the semester cost, but the books, the supplies such as laptops, pens, notebooks, earphones, babysitting for time studied, transportation, and even compensation for time off work.  

If you think of it the rich person way, you are entitled to so much more money for doing the same thing that the poor person is having to cover all by themselves. 

This is the key difference, and the first thing that opened my eyes to how our mindset matters when it comes to money.  Before my very smart friend pointed these things out to me, I had never considered that my time and effort are worth money and should be compensated.

That conversation was the start of a shift which has influenced the way I approach my side hustles, the way I spend my time, and how I prioritize my income streams to maximize my return.

Stay tuned for tips on how to expand on this mindset and make it work for YOU!

[gainswithpayne]

Priceless Knowledge

Early on, I felt like reading was not putting money in my pocket, so I was better served putting time into side hustles or picking up overtime.

Then I started to realize that it didn’t matter how much money I saved up if I wasn’t educated on how to properly handle it.  Furthermore, if I was delaying learning about faster, better, and lower effort ways to make money than I was already doing, it was a waste of time.

So I started to look at educating myself on personal finance as its own job.  It had its own appropriate allotment of time, about 30-45 minutes per day, or more if it was an audiobook or podcast I could listen to while doing other things.

Along the way, I found some books to be incredibly dry, some were cult-y, and some were absolute gems.  Here are my top picks, along with a great way to get them all for FREE at the bottom!

1.  The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J Stanley & William D Danko

This one is great for constructing your overall mindset and lifestyle, and dispelling the myths that you may believe about wealthy people.

2.  Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

Good for practical advice in an easy-to-digest format.

3.  Broke Millenial Takes on Investing - Erin Lowry

This one might be my favorite!  This was the first book about investing I read and I love how simple it is to understand.  Lowry does a great job of boiling down lots of complex concepts to simple, layman’s terms.

4.  The Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey

Ramsey gets a ton of hate, and I don’t necessarily agree with his principles - they are maybe a little extreme.  However, the methods he talks about for debt reduction are indespensable, and the “snowball” concept can also be applied to leveraging wealth.

Now, four books don’t cost that much - here is my favorite place to buy used books. But if you’re like me, a print book sometimes just isn’t as convenient as having it on your phone to read or listen to.  That is why I love my library app!  So many FREE books available, including all of these titles!  Go check it out.

Check out Libby to get these for FREE with a library card!

[gainswithpayne]

Budgeting 2.0

Every book I’ve ever read about finance tells you to do the same thing when figuring out a budget; Write down what you make, then write down all your expenses, and stop eating out and buying nice things.

Those things are true, and obviously a good place to start if you have absolutely zero clue of how much money is transpiring in and out on a weekly and monthly basis.  But for me, that’s too much to keep track of.  I like to operate on more general rules and constant budgeting and math stresses me out.

Early 2020, I was a newly-single mother, newly unemployed, and not-so-newly stressed about money.  I am educated and had a decent amount in savings to get me through, but I also had several thousand dollars in debt, as well as one or two collections accounts that were stressing me out about my credit.  I was stuck in an in-between of having money saved, but also paralyzed by Dave Ramsey’s proclamations to absolve all debt and cut up all your credit cards for good.

Now halfway through 2021, I’m debt free (besides a small car loan), have started my own business, saved $20k, invested over $10k, diversified into crypto, started a 401k, and have a sizeable emergency fund.

All that in just ONE year!

I promise you even as a single momma, I was able to make it happen and still have lots of time off to spend with my baby.  I want to teach you to do the same, and share with you the secrets, successes, and failures I encountered along the way.

Are you ready?