Budgeting: How I Earned $113.02 from Just Coins!

Hustling is scrappy. It requires grit, and sometimes it also requires you to get out of your comfort zone and do things that no one else wants to do. Collecting coins is something that I picked up, and adopted, from Dividend Investing forums. In these forums I found that many dividend investors had similar types of hobbies which included collecting and saving coins from wherever they can find, then investing the collections quarterly or by the end of the year. 

These investors then pool their coins together, bring them to the bank, and cash out. They then invest the cash into their portfolios, and as you can imagine the coins can add up to a sizable penny as it compounds. 

Normally, at the end of the year, I accumulate all of my coins that I rack up from either spending money from cash or picking them off the ground, cash it out at a local Coinstar and then invest them into my trading portfolios. However, this case was different. I was saving up for a 5G smartphone. Why? Because I need it. At the end of this year, I plan on moving out and undertaking a daunting journey so I've been accumulating supplies needed to make this journey happen. Although I can't provide what it is yet, one of the things I needed to buy was a 5G smartphone that I can tether for unlimited internet. So although I have enough cash and credit to buy such a thing right now, I figured I could use money from all of my semi-passive hustles in order to make it happen. 

Budget: ($400)

Money Saved so far: $264.76:

$110.02 Cash

$113.02 Amazon Gift Card

$41.72 Amazon Turk

Now I have already reached 3/4 of my goal and ultimately it will only be a matter of time till I reach it. But I wanted to provide a lesson in this. Budgeting requires diligence, discipline and the economic idea of trade offs. Instead of socking my cash into investable assets, I have forgone that route in favor of a 5G smartphone. However, by purchasing such an expensive item in mind for relatively no cash front-end, I am budgeting wisely and increasing my overall assets and lowering debt levels simultaneously by freeing up my cash.

I acquired the cash from a Christmas gift, I got the Amazon gift card from coins I was collecting, and I have earned free cash from Amazon Turks from doing just 1 survey per day. This on top of other passive income apps that I am using, is allowing me to buy a 5G smartphone that I can use for internet, work, and to generate more passive-income from the internet.

Budgeting is one of the basics of personal finance. And in this day and age, with the prevalence of semi-passive income apps, the world is your oyster. Make sure to practice the economic philosophy of trade-offs, delayed gratification, and prudent time saving hacks to make your overall life better.