Frugal Expat

Entries categorized as ‘Extra Income’

Culminating 2009 with a Smile

December 27, 2009 · 9 Comments

Have you tried ‘Googling’ your name? I do sometimes and I found out two things today. (Sorry to be out of the subject matter as I can’t resist to blog about this incident…)

First, I was surprised to see the article, which I submitted earlier this year, was published. In fact, I had no clue at all that it was accepted and published. It is entitled ‘Catching Up With the Relics of Bygone Eras‘ for Valley Scene Magazine.

Secondly, I found out that my article ‘Bangkok Sightseeing Vacation – Frugal Tips‘ in EzineArticles was used by another blogger without proper credits. I felt my copyrights were violated because the blogger didn’t include at all the author’s name and resource box. The EzineArticles allows anyone to publish and to reprint articles however there are terms and conditions that you need to abide.

Anyway, I hope the blogger will realize that it is unethical to use the articles without the author’s proper credits.

As for the recap of my writing pursuit in 2009, I would say that it has been very prolific year in terms of honing my skills and learning the ropes of freelance business. 2009 was a challenging but profitable year for me and my sacrifices really paid off.

This is the reason that I am culminating year 2009 with a smile and a deep sense of accomplishment.

I am excited to welcome 2010 and I hope to land more lucrative projects next year.

Happy New Year everyone!

Categories: Extra Income · freelance writing
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Supplementing My Income through Freelance Writing

December 5, 2009 · 20 Comments

Photo Credit: www.persistenceunlimited.com

I am always busy to the extent that I limit to a certain time I spend chatting with my Mum. Honestly, I sometimes feel guilty about it because she waits everyday so we can chat together. I know she understands it.

On weekends I sleep late and spend more of my time working in the laptop. This is the only time that I can really wrap up things to meet my project deadlines. The weekdays are generally spent in my full time job and sometimes I still work at home after office though this greatly depends on my day’s workload at the office. If I am really exhausted, I simply spend an hour of research and cope with the writing workloads in wee hours of the morning. It means I get up between 3am to 4am though I always try to be up by three o’clock

I am oftentimes confronted by friends for such abnormal routine and lifestyle. Fortunately, I love every minute I spend in my freelance writing gigs even it means shorter period of sleep. I have never been so passionate and dedicated in life except for my writing.

Beating the deadlines is always a BIG challenge especially if you have a fulltime job.

Anyway, I am happy to have extra income by doing the thing I love most. The fact that I am able to give a full financial support to a college student out from my writing gigs makes it more rewarding.
There is an ocean of available jobs for freelance writers. With such options, the only constraint is the time to allot for writing. I am currently working as freelance writer in one of the local company based in Philippines. There are two things I like writing for this company. There is always constant flow of assignments, in fact there is no shortage at all, and lastly their online system. We have a cyber office (really cool!) where we can interact with my virtual colleagues and bosses. They also have very effective payment method. I am earning while honing my writing skills. If you are interested, let me know (but this opportunity applies for Filipinos only!).

I prefer my other projects to remain private.. Sorry folks, I can’t blog about it!

Categories: Extra Income
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Surviving the Tough Economy: Extra Source of Income

October 16, 2009 · 31 Comments

Money..MoneyWith the rising cost of living and the shrinking value of our salary, it is just apt to start living frugally at the same time scouring opportunities for extra source of income.

My pursuit for extra income was a heaven sent, a referral from a friend. Luckily, it is a part time job that I love to do.

It is a local company that hires part time mystery shoppers. Wish it is a real shopping activity. LOL! Service oriented companies such as banks, mobile shops, restaurants, hotels and occasional government sectors hire consultants to gauge their employee’s level of service and product knowledge.

So you go to the your assigned shop or office, pretend to be a potential customer, ask the staff with series of questions and once your mystery shopping is completed, fill up the report and that’s it! You will be paid afterwards.

In my case I started in July and so far, I completed 5 assignments. There was a bit constraint of the timings in my part. Most of the available assignments have the regular office working hours which is similar to mine. Basically, I can hit only shops in the mall because it is open after my work or banks because it is open on Saturdays.

It is an interesting job but deep inside I felt somehow bad for fooling the staff in front of me. You give them hard time by asking tough thorough questions, trying to extract as much information and in return, they do (most of them) their best to please you as a customer.

Anyway, the payment is not much really though it is not bad too rather than wasting your time.

I personally admire the level of professionalism of this mystery shopper company. They are prompt in replying to your queries and in rating your reports. The specifications for each mystery shopping job are very clear and specific. You will need a sharp memory though because there is detailed information that you need to remember while mystery shopping and this info will be asked in the report.

Also, it is an internet based job. Once you become a member, you will be given log-in details and you can check available assignments and complete the reports online.

The company has very limited time frame though you can choose according to the options given in the site. Some assignments need to be complied within the next two days while others will give you 3-5 days.

If you are a neophyte, you are allowed to take one assignment only then after that, you can take more.

It is an ideal part time job but here is the hitch! The payment process takes time. You can only request for payment a month after the completion of your assignment and the company process the payment every first week of the month only.

So, it will likely take 45-60 days before you receive your payment.

If you are interested to be a part time mystery shopper, PM me and I’ll send you the details!

Cheers!

Categories: Extra Income · Finances
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