Thursday, 30 June 2016
How Stoicism’s Principles Can Help You Transform Your Financial Life
Some of you may remember that, a few years ago, I wrote a three part series on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance. I read it for the first time almost twenty years ago and not only has it had a tremendous impact on my life ever since, it’s also triggered a lifelong interest in philosophy and how it can impact how I choose to live my life.
Perhaps more than any other topic, I’ve found incredible amounts of personal value from the philosophical school of thought known as stoicism. Stoicism actually has a great deal in common with Emerson’s writings, but the tradition started much earlier with the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Personally, I find stoicism invaluable for navigating the modern world while maintaining any semblance of self-control. I consider the ideas within stoicism to be an essential part of my own financial life (and personal life, as well).
I’ve discussed stoicism in brief in several places over the years (mostly reader mailbag questions). Today, I’m going to dig a little deeper into stoicism – or at least my interpretation of it – and show how it is really useful in terms of helping me to make sense of the world and maintain the self-control needed to find financial, professional, and personal success.
What Is Stoicism?
Google actually offers up a pretty good definition of stoicism:
an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge, and that the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.
I tend to think of stoicism as the separation between the way the world happens to be and my emotional response to it. In other words, I strive to separate the things I can control – my internal emotions and thoughts – from the things I cannot control – the rest of the world.
It is through that control of internal emotions and thoughts that you can begin to see the real truth of things.
Take a bottle of soda, for instance. It’s neither good nor bad. It’s going to taste sweet and fizzy when I drink it, but the cost of that comes in the health effects – it’s going to cause me to gain weight and won’t have a good impact on blood sugar levels, either. It is what it is – neither good nor evil.
Yet, if I were passionate about drinking soda, I would personally hone in on the good. I would have an emotional response driving me toward the soda.
On the other hand, if I were focused intensely on my personal health, I would personally hone in on the bad. I would have an emotional response driving me away from the soda.
Those responses would mostly appear as gut feelings. I might be enticed by the soda… or I might be disgusted by it. In either case, my emotions are guiding me.
Those emotions, though, they’re inside me. I can control them if I so choose. It’s not easy to do so, especially at first, but when I do get them under control, I can make the decision to drink that soda in a more rational way. In the end, it’s a cost-benefit thing – I will enjoy the experience of the fizzy drink, but I won’t enjoy the health consequences – and I can decide for myself internally whether the cost is worth the benefit.
Once you start taking that kind of perspective about everything, it starts to become the natural way of viewing the world. You start to realize that your emotions and desires tend to mostly lead you into doing things that don’t really benefit your life and often are a detriment to your life. They guide you into experiences that may have huge negatives and guide you away from experiences that may have huge positives.
Let’s dig in a little deeper and look at some of the stoic principles that I personally find very useful.
Principles of Stoicism That You May Find Useful
While the key principles of stoicism are few and straightforward, they imply many other ideas, many of which can be useful in a modern life that isn’t strictly stoic but simply strives to build a better life for oneself. Here are some of those principles.
Acknowledge that all emotions come from within and that we create our own feelings
You decide if you like something. You decide if you want something. You decide if you don’t like something. Those are decisions that are up to you, not up to the person, place, thing, or idea in question.
Yet, so often, we react so automatically to things with a simple emotion or desire that we don’t even recognize that our response comes from within. We basically attribute it to that product.
Think about how you feel when you see your favorite food in the world on a plate in front of you, or when you see your favorite person again that you haven’t seen in a while. Those are feelings and emotions inside of you, created by you, but they’re such immediate responses that they feel automatic. They feel almost like they’re created by the thing that you like.
The same thing occurs during every single buying situation. You might deeply want something, but that want is something inside of you, something you created. You created it and it’s an entirely internal thing, so you can just as easily stop it if you so choose.
This is such a huge key to personal and professional and financial success. You create your emotional responses, and you can turn them off if you choose to do so. They’re all within you.
Find a respected mentor
When we take emotions out of the equation, our decisions are often reduced down to being based on our understanding of the world, namely the consequences of various options for us and for others.
Over time, experience teaches us quite a lot about these potential consequences of our decisions, but it’s never perfect, especially when we’re younger.
This is why a mentor is so valuable. A mentor can help us walk through the consequences of various choices that face us in life. A professional mentor can help us make good career decisions, for example. A trusted life mentor – perhaps an older relative that you trust, a pastor, or just someone you respect in the community – can do the same thing for your personal decisions.
Mentors play a powerful role in helping you make decisions outside of the influence of your emotional responses. They usually don’t have an emotional stake in your choice, so they can usually look at the options for what they are and help you walk through those options. They can be invaluable, especially when you can tell that emotion is clouding your judgment.
Know that failure happens, but life goes on
One of the most powerful emotions is fear. People are afraid of lots of things: damaging relationships, damaging their career, missing out on something, and so on. The idea of failure seems very negative for most people.
The thing is, fear is just another emotion. It’s an emotion that tells us that we should never take a risk, that we should avoid failure at all costs.
If we do that, though, we miss out on tons of opportunities. Opportunities in life almost always come with some risk of failure, and that’s okay. Failure happens. It’s really okay to fail sometimes, as long as you learn something from that failure.
Fear of failure should never hold you back from taking on challenges. Instead, if a challenge or opportunity presents itself, you should evaluate what the actual drawbacks of failure are, how likely they are, and whether you could handle a worst case scenario. Nothing cuts through fear like looking at the reality of what could happen if things don’t go quite right and directly comparing that to the real benefits of taking that risk.
Fear is an emotion, like any other. When you realize that and step away from it, many professional, personal, and financial risks look very different.
Read and learn with purpose and apply your new knowledge
Part of the value of stoicism comes from being able to evaluate people, places, things, situations, and ideas without emotion interfering with that judgment. To do so requires knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge.
Thus, one of the strongest ways to become a better person in terms of properly evaluating the world is to become smarter, to build up your knowledge, and to be able to apply that knowledge in the world.
If you feel uncertain and afraid about financial decisions, for example, the best response isn’t to quake in fear and postpone those decisions. The best response is to learn. Go to the library and check out some books on investing and personal finance. Learn more about those issues so that they no longer seem scary and unknown. If you do that, it becomes much easier to remove the emotion from those kinds of decisions and to truly make the best decision for you.
Be brutally honest with yourself
No one is perfect. We often hold inflated views of ourselves, though, because it feels good to think that we’re above average and highly competent.
The problem is that one’s inflated view of oneself can lead them to not bother to improve themselves, and that leads to gradually falling behind others while still maintaining that self-impression of being above average. When that happens, you begin to get passed over in many aspects of life – job promotions, relationships, and so on – and it doesn’t make sense to you. That can cause anger, jealousy, and many other negative reactions that mostly serve to cover up the reality of what’s happening.
The best solution is to be brutally honest with yourself. How do your skills line up next to your peers? In what areas do their skills exceed yours? In what areas are you more skilled? In what areas can you improve yourself?
This does not extend to “brutal honesty” with others. “Brutal honesty” with others is a cover for being cruel, which has tons of negative social consequences that no one wants in their life.
Reflect on your time use
It should be obvious by now that stoicism ties heavily into self-reliance and self-improvement. Stoicism requires you to put emotions aside, see the world for what it is as much as possible, and be brutally honest with yourself about your place in the world and the attributes you have on offer. This almost always results in a strong drive to improve yourself through acquiring knowledge, getting in better shape, and other aspects of self-improvement.
The challenge for many people is finding the time to do this, and, quite honestly, time management itself is a great area in which you can improve yourself. It often directly leads to more time that you can use for improving various aspects of your life.
Take a strong, serious look at how you use your time. One great way to do this is to do a time diary. I use time use trackers like Timing to keep track of how I’m using my time. This almost always shows me, in very clear terms, how well I’m using my time. Many days, I set personal goals for time use and this type of time tracker helps me keep on task.
Reflect on your money use
Literally everything I said above also applies to money use, so I’m largely going to repeat the same section above because, well, it applies so well to the connection between stoicism and money.
Take a strong, serious look at how you use your money and whether or not it really makes any sense. One great way to do this is to use a spending tracker. I personally use You Need a Budget for this; the older version (version 4) allows you to track your spending offline and doesn’t require a subscription. Tracking my spending almost always shows me, in very clear terms, how well I’m using my money and whether I’m wasting it or using it in ways that will continue to bloom in my life.
Reflect on your purpose and whether you’re actually doing things in line with that purpose
Thinking about one’s purpose in life is a rather deep question, one that often doesn’t have an easy answer. It’s something I’ve thought about a lot over the years, and I’ve come to a small handful of conclusions about what my own purpose in life is – it mostly boils down to helping others and improving myself. When I do things, I prefer to have them fall into one of those two categories.
Once you’ve really honed in on a central purpose or two, start looking at the ways in which you spend your time and ask how they’re helping you achieve that central purpose in life.
What I’ve found is that, time and time again, when I spend time on things that are more closely related to those two or three central purposes in life, I feel good, and when I do things that aren’t related to those central purposes, I feel bad. Thus, using those purposes as a general guide for how to spend my time and how to spend my money makes a lot of sense.
Kill procrastination, for it is your enemy
As I mentioned above, once you start digging into stoicism, time management becomes more important to you. The biggest reason for that is that you don’t want to waste time, because time wasted is time not spent on the things that are closest to your central purposes in life.
Unsurprisingly, this all points a very negative finger right at procrastination. Procrastination means you’re postponing doing something that’s important in order to do something that’s urgent but perhaps not nearly as important, which is a perfect example of letting emotions run your decision-making process. You want to do something else because the important thing perhaps isn’t as “fun.” The end result is that you end up underperforming on the important task.
The best approach is to start in on important tasks as soon as you know about them. Start saving for retirement now. Start working on that project now. Even if the initial steps aren’t perfect, most of the time they’re far better than doing nothing during that time.
Be present in each moment
When we take ourselves out of the moment, we allow ourselves to operate on instinct, and instinct is often heavily guided by emotion. We don’t respond to things rationally and instead rely on the most instantaneous of reactions to deal with situations. In short, we make better decisions and take more away from situations if we’re present in the moment.
The solution here is easy: whatever it is that you’re doing at the moment, focus on it. Don’t let your mind wander. Don’t spend your time thinking about something else – if your mind is on another topic, write it down and think about it later when you can focus on it instead of splitting your attention.
If you’re present in the moment, you’re far more likely to build strong relationships and make good decisions, including your spending decisions. If you’re distracted in the moment, you’re far more likely to make poor spending decisions and take less away from the moment.
Incidentally, this is why my cell phone is actually completely turned off a lot of the time.
Ask yourself “why” when you have an emotional response
Even as you find yourself moving more and more into these practices, you’ll find yourself responding emotionally to things from time to time. You’ll crave something. You’ll get upset by something. You’ll get angry.
Those emotions are completely normal. The goal of stoicism is not to be emotionless, but to understand those emotions, know where they came from, and thus have a better capacity for making good decisions when something similar comes around in the future.
Whenever I’m trying to figure out a desire or an emotional response, I usually use a technique that I call “the five whys.” I ask myself why I’m feeling that way, and then why the answer to that question is the way it is, and then why again, and again, and yet again.
Almost always, by the fifth “why,” I’m getting somewhere. I’m usually face to face with some sort of real challenge or conflict in my life, something that I can actually process or deal with or think about. When I fix that problem, then inevitably the overly powerful emotional response goes away, which enables me to make more rational choices after that.
Remember that the greatest virtue is a rational life
Decisions made on impulse and emotion usually end up having negative consequences – for your wallet, for your health, for your career, for your relationships. Emotion clouds us from seeing the potential pitfalls in a decision or from seeing some of the long term benefits.
Ideally, we make the best decisions possible in each situation. That’s an ideal, of course, one that we’ll never perfectly reach, but one that we can strive for and move closer to over time.
A rational life is one that leads us to fulfilling that grand purpose we have for ourselves as much as possible because we’re making decisions that lead us toward that grand purpose. Almost always, that means making smart financial decisions that are in line with our life dreams, such as saving for the future and spending less than we earn as a consistent practice. It’s all about making rational decisions as we work toward our higher purpose in life.
Further Reading
If you find stoicism to be as interesting and valuable as I do, there are several books well worth reading on the subject.
The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holliday is probably the best single volume modern introduction to stoicism. It focuses on how modern people can use the things they can control to overcome the obstacles in modern life.
Letters from a Stoic by Seneca is a great collection of essays on the classic elements of stoicism: that the universe is governed by rational rules; that a content life is achieved by a simple and rational life with duty toward a central purpose; that human suffering and failure is a part of life and can teach us many things; and that study and learning and thoughtful conversation are incredibly important.
The Enchiridion of Epictetus is something of a practical handbook on how to life a stoic life. Much of the content lines up pretty well with what you’ll find in this post, incidentally, as it boils down to understanding your emotions, living a simple life in accordance with your purpose, keeping learning central in life, and using what you have to achieve things in life.
I’d also strongly recommend Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, who was a second century AD Roman emperor. These are actually his personal notes, as he didn’t seem to intend them for publication, but it’s a very practical look at how a person can apply the principles of stoicism in life. Marcus Aurelius was clearly committed to stoicism and his writings are very insightful.
Final Thoughts
I don’t expect anyone to fully subscribe to a life of pure stoicism, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a great deal to learn about personal growth, personal finance, and achieving your goals in stoicism. I find that the more I read and reflect on the topic, the more ideas I have with which to improve my life and make better decisions, especially in the face of challenges, temptation, and tragedy.
I invite you to take the time to not only reflect a little bit on stoicism and how it can help your own life, but also to dig into some of the additional readings I’ve linked to. Stoicism has helped me personally in my journey from a financial disaster and professional dissatisfaction to a much better life, and I believe these principles can help you, too.
The post How Stoicism’s Principles Can Help You Transform Your Financial Life appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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It’s my birthday. 3 things I learned
Today is my birthday. Every time one of my friends has a birthday, I ask them to share some birthday wisdom, so today I wanted to take a second to thank you for reading IWT and share a few lessons I’ve learned in 34 years.
1. Look beneath the surface of “catch phrases”
“What’s your greatest fear?” When I used to hear people ask me this godforsaken question. I guess I never really understood it. I would say, “Nothing” and they would look at me like I was crazy. I thought fear meant an animalistic, physical sensation like some predatory animal was chasing me. It turns out fear is a lot more subtle. I’m afraid of being ordinary. I’m afraid of thinking small. A lot of us are afraid of failure, or looking stupid, or of our friends thinking we got “too big for our britches.”
“What keeps you up at night?” Another phrase I didn’t understand. Dumb & Literal Ramit was like, “HUH? I SLEEP GREAT!” Well, now I get it. Maybe it doesn’t literally mean what prevents you from going to sleep…but what is on your mind ALL THE TIME? For me, it’s not revenue or launches or my protein powder. It’s people problems and people management (the special challenges that come with growing a company).
“Keep trying new things.” There’s another phrase I’ve been thinking about: “Keep trying new things.” On the surface, it sounds so normal — duh, of course I should keep trying new things. But think about our daily schedule: Most of us go to work, come home, maybe work out or watch TV, then do it all over again…for the rest of our lives. Maybe there’s a 1-week vacation thrown in there every year.
And yet a tiny change can change everything.
A few days ago, a reader sent me a link to an old IWT article he’d stumbled across, written back in 2005. Check it out:
Just like that. No 3-week launch with all the bells and whistles. No affiliate promotion. Just a simple mention, like “Oh, btw, now this site will also be about personal entrepreneurship. Cool?”
Such a small post for such a historical shift in focus that’s now led to millions of readers focused on more than just cutting back on the price of their breakfast cereal.
I think that for a lot of us, huge changes come from simple decisions. A decision to go to a yoga class, or hire a tutor to learn Spanish, or make the decision to be happy.
That little blog post was a great chance to sit back and really appreciate how far IWT has come in the last 12 years. I hope it inspires you.
2. Make yourself proud
I loved this email I got from a reader, Pete R.:
“Hey Ramit,
I did a talk yesterday to some high schoolers on career advice (I mentioned
your book and site on my recommended reading list) and had a moment that
made me think of you. A lot of my talk was about not being afraid to be
exceptional, to be above average and to stand out. In the Q&A afterward,
one of the girls asked me “so are you a top performer?”I didn’t even flinch. I said yes without a moment’s hesitation. I said
everyone in my company was, it was the benchmark for even getting in (I
work at XXXXX). The look on everyone’s face was intriguing. They were
shocked, but it wasn’t a “he’s full of himself shock”, they seemed shocked
because I didn’t try and downplay it, didn’t have any false humility.
Almost as if they were thinking “wow, can you really just be like that?”It was like me saying it was telling them it was ok not to be average. The
level of engagement and questions after that definitely went up.I’ve been thinking about that constantly since it happened. I find it very
interested that it seems to just be imprinted on the majority of kids that
you’re supposed to be average.Thanks for reading, NRN.
Regards
Pete”
I love this for so many reasons.
First, society highlights superstars, athletes, and CEOs…but the minute you try something different, you realize the world wants you to be vanilla — they love celebrating, but nobody likes seeing how the sausage is made. It’s no surprise that we tend to do what everyone else does.
Second, when was the last time we actually said, “I’m proud of this”? For most of us, it’s been months…or even years. We’re socially conditioned to not say we’re proud of something we’ve accomplished or to downplay it.
I think that if you focus on doing something interesting, you get really good, and you tell people about it, then one day you wake up and realize you’ve accomplished something meaningful.
I never started IWT to turn into this big thing. I didn’t even know it would be a business! I just wanted to share what I’d learned about personal finance with a few of my friends. And now, I’m proud of what the IWT team has accomplished.
3. Everyone has something they “know” they should do…and they’re not doing it. Including me and you
A few days ago, our Product team did an icebreaker. The question was: “What surprising thing has working at IWT taught you about the people around you?”
Now, inside this small group is some of the best talent on applied psychology anywhere in the world. They know why people do what they do, they have access to test data and stories that nobody else does.
So we had a fascinating discussion on what we’ve learned about human nature.
One of the answers was, “Everyone has something they know they need to do and they’re not doing it. Including all of us.”
That level of compassion is something I didn’t have in my early 20s. If you couldn’t get an A…well, just try harder. If you couldn’t lose weight, well…you probably weren’t trying hard enough.
Over the last 12 years, I’ve learned that we all have a few things we’re great at…and at least one big, glaring thing that we think about every day of our lives.
For some people, it’s being unhappily single: “Will I ever meet someone? Do I have any time left?” Etc.
For others, it’s their looks. “Am I too short? I weigh too much. Sigh…there’s nothing I can do.”
What is it for you?
When I was in my early 20s, if some guy had just come up to me and said, “Dude, I know you think about being skinny a lot. Look, it’s so easy. Just count your macros, increase your calorie count to 3,500 calories, and lift heavy,” I would have looked at him like he was speaking alien.
We all have struggles in our own life. I have them, you have them
But just telling people the facts isn’t enough — even if you’re right. Like it or not, facts are overrated in persuasion. But meeting people where they are, giving them a vision for the future, and moving them a little in the right direction — not from A-Z, but maybe just A-F — can help tremendously.
Anyway, just some thoughts to share on my birthday today.
If you’ve read along, thank you.
For my birthday, I don’t need any presents. But there’s one request I have: If you’ve enjoyed IWT, please do me a favor and leave a comment on how IWT has helped you. That would be the best birthday gift of all.
Thanks,
-Ramit
It’s my birthday. 3 things I learned is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.
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#money #finance #investing #becomerich
10 Companies That Will Pay You Just to Use the Internet
If you’d like to earn some extra pocket cash — and who wouldn’t? — the internet is a treasure trove of viable options to do just that. With a connection to the web, you can jumble together an array of part-time jobs – from renting out a room in your home on Airbnb to running errands or shopping for your neighbors through apps like TaskRabbit, Postmates, or InstaCart. Heck, you can even buy and resell items (or sell your old stuff) through sites like Craigslist, eBay, and some newer niche outlets.
Still, your options for earning money online aren’t limited to just part-time work and internet resale – and not even close. Thanks to innovative new technologies, the creativity of certain start-ups, and marketers’ eternal desire to better understand consumers, some websites will actually pay you just to use the internet – whether that’s for searching the web, taking surveys, or conducting extensive online research.
10 Websites That Will Pay You to Use the Internet
Want to know who these companies are? If you have a ton of time to kill, you could make some serious side cash – or at least a few hundred dollars’ worth of gift cards every month.
Many of these companies simply want to track your behavior online so their clients can better advertise to people in your demographic. Keep in mind, that means not everyone will qualify for some programs — a company may be looking specifically for 25- to 34-year-old men in a certain region or income bracket, for example.
Even so, it doesn’t hurt to apply. So sit back, open your browser, and learn all the different ways you could be earning money for surfing the web.
Wonder
If you have excellent research skills and want to earn some extra cash, Wonder might be the perfect fit. We wrote about Wonder several weeks ago, and here’s how it works: Basically, Wonder invites anyone – journalists, corporations, or even individuals – to pay a flat fee for a properly researched answer to their most burning questions. In most cases, users pay this fee because they don’t have the time to do the research themselves, or because they want to make sure they get it right for an important presentation or report.
On the employment side, Wonder researchers pull out all stops to create accurate and comprehensive responses to any question posed. Wonder doesn’t have any formal education requirements for the researchers it hires, but it does prefer candidates with excellent research and English writing skills. If you’re interested in learning more, you can look into becoming a researcher on AskWonder.com, or read more about the company in our in-depth review.
Swagbucks
For an easy way to earn, try Swagbucks. This website will literally pay you to search and play around on the internet, with almost nothing more extensive required on your part.
The set-up works like this: Once you sign up for Swagbucks, you’ll download their search bar onto your computer. From there, you’ll earn points for shopping online, watching targeted videos, searching the web, and taking surveys. Once you rack up a ton of points, you can exchange them for gift cards to popular retailers like Amazon.com and Walmart.
So yes, Swagbucks pays you in gift cards and not money. But most people can turn those gift cards into cash if they’re creative – for example, you can score some Walmart gift cards and use them for groceries, then turn around and reduce your grocery budget that month. That’s pretty swank if you ask me!
- Related: Guide to the Gift Card Economy
Opinion Outpost
You know what they say about opinions, right? They’re like armpits (and other less savory body parts) – as in, everybody’s got ‘em. The good news is, Opinion Outpost will actually pay you for voicing your mind and taking their surveys. That’s right: Whoever said your opinion didn’t matter was dead wrong.
All you have to do to get started is sign up with an email account or social media account. Once you do, you’ll be selected for surveys you can complete in exchange for cash or gift cards to retailers like iTunes or Amazon. Plus, you can also earn entries into occasional cash drawings for as much as $10,000.
User Testing
User Testing is another online survey site that rewards its members for giving their opinions on marketing tactics and products. Worldwide, more than 34,000 customers and companies rely on UserTesting to figure out marketing techniques and strategies and to gain insight into the minds of their users.
Signing up is free and easy. Just for visiting a website or testing a new app, you can get paid $10. Of course, participating in multiple campaigns can help you earn more and more cash over time. And each time, you’re paid $10 for about 20 minutes of work or less. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
SmartPanel
Earning nominal amounts of cash is easy with Smart Panel. Once you complete a three-minute questionnaire to see if you qualify, you can get paid for everything from living and breathing to using your phone or computer like you always have.
For starters, you’ll get $5 just for meeting their qualifications. After that, you’ll get another $5 per month just for keeping the app installed. Beyond those initial payments, you’ll earn small amounts of cash just for using your phone or computer as you always have – and letting Smart Panel analyze your search results. According to Smart Panel, you can earn up to $110 in 12 months and up to $230 in 24 months – for doing almost nothing.
mobileXpression
While mobileXpression doesn’t dole out a set rate of cash, installing the app and answering an array of questions does put you in the running for all kinds of rewards and free merchandise. Once you install the app on one of your devices and keep it installed, you can earn everything from Amazon gift cards to electronics like iPads or flat-screen televisions, just for searching the web as you normally would.
The requirements are simple: First, you need a device that’s compliant with their software, and second, you must sign up and meet the program’s qualifications. After that, the software works independently on your device, analyzing and researching your usage with no extra effort on your part.
Inbox Dollars
If you love watching online videos (who doesn’t?), Inbox Dollars wants to pay you to live your dream. Plus, you can also get paid for taking surveys, reading emails, playing games, shopping online, and even searching the web. Does it get any better than that?
According to the company, its users have earned more than $43 million to date. Plus, signing up is free and easy: Simply enter your email, create a password, and you’ll even get $5 in bonus cash for joining. After that, the amount of money you’ll earn is based on how many tasks you can complete.
Small Business Knowledge Center
This is a weird one, but it works nonetheless. Basically, a company called the Small Business Knowledge Center will pay you (in gift cards) for your junk mail – both the physical kind that comes in your mailbox, and even your email spam.
You might be questioning the sanity of a company that pays for stuff most of us throw away, but it is legit. Clients in the financial services and insurance industries “use this information for competitive intelligence and product development purposes,” according to the SBKC website.
If you sign up and qualify, you’ll be rewarded with gift cards just for sending your pesky junk mail! Who knew?
MyPoints
You heard it here first, folks: MyPoints is yet another cash-back site that will reward you for shopping online and printing coupons. If you already do most of your shopping online, for example, you can score meaningful benefits on everything you buy, earning points you can redeem for gift cards and more.
Plus, you can sign up for the chance to win an Amazon gift card or earn one right away for spending at least $10 at a selected online store, such as Walmart.com, Target.com, or Amazon.com. If you need to buy stuff anyway, then this is a smart way to rack up rewards at the same time.
RewardTV
If you watch a lot of television, you have to try this out. RewardTV will pay you to log onto their website and answer fun trivia questions about your favorite shows.
Not only can you earn ongoing participation rewards, but you can earn entries into drawings for prizes that range from three years of free gas to $10,000 in cash. You won’t earn a lot here — maybe $10 to $20 per month — but it’s still a fun way to kill a few afternoons if you’re a TV buff.
The Bottom Line
If you want to earn some extra cash, the internet has paved the way to more options than most people realize. Just by answering survey questions, watching television, or doing your regular online shopping, you can earn real cash rewards or, at the very least, gift cards that can be used to buy the stuff you want.
Every site we covered here is absolutely free to sign up for, although not everyone will qualify all the time. Still, if you want some almost-free money for doing stuff you were planning to do anyway, it’s hard to complain.
What is your favorite way to earn money online? Have you ever used any of these sites?
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