Category Archives: Extra Income

Interrupted Sleep, Disturbing Odesk Experience

Posted on June 19, 2012 by | 18 Comments

I am already up at one o’clock in the morning today. I tried to sleep again but my senses are just fully awake. So rather than wasting my time trying to fall asleep, I got up, reviewed my research notes and started typing this post.

Now it’s past 3AM and sleep is still eluding me. I hope I will not have any trouble waking up later today for work.

My mind was a bit occupied actually before I slept earlier as deadlines loom in my mind. If I want to succeed in pursuing this goal, I really have to find a system that will free me from household chores like keeping frozen cooked meals for re-heating to save up time.

I think it is all about planning. Having a meal plan for the week will save me time from cooking and going to the supermarket every now and then.  I expect to be tied up in the next few months because I want to pay attention in my writing class and online jobs.

And speaking of online jobs, I had a very disturbing experience with Odesk last night. When I applied for this job post, I already noticed that the client’s payment status is not verified and he has just been a recent member of Odesk.

I applied anyway giving the benefit of the doubt. Hours later, I received a response inviting me for a Skype interview with specific requirement of video cam. To cut the story short, the client chatted later with obscene message.  I really freaked out and reported the matter to Odesk.

For all Odesk users, just note and beware of this particular skype ID “b_heskovizenako”. His profile name is showing as “Bimsi Heskovizenako”.

I know that it is difficult to stop such pervert individual but hopefully this can serve as warnings to others.

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Posted in Extra Income, freelance writing

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Productive Long Weekend..

Posted on June 18, 2012 by | Leave a comment

It was a long weekend last week. My off day started as early as Thursday as our company declared holiday in lieu of an internal event held in the headquarter office in Finland and Sunday was also declared public holiday (Al Isra Wal Miraj or The Prophet’s Ascension) here in UAE.

Although it was the ideal time to go out of Abu Dhabi for a short break, we decided to stay at home as hubby needed to work on Saturday afternoon and I had online projects to finish too.

It is my plan to pursue some online jobs this year and this time I am serious about it. I used to be active in writing online gigs before but I took a hiatus for almost a year because of long working hours in my previous job.

I intend to learn the in and out of working online hoping that I can use it as my fall back soon when the time comes that I need to return back home for good.

With this plan, time management is a challenge really. I have to juggle my full time job, online work and household chores but I want to give it a shot. I need to find a system to ease the situation but I will not be able to figure it out until I am in the situation.

So aside from completing my online project last weekend, I was occupied too updating my profile and applying for online jobs.

I hope that my future weekends will be as productive as this always.

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Posted in Employment, Extra Income, freelance writing, Life in Abu Dhabi

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A Week of Hiatus

Posted on January 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

I have not posted for almost a week now because I am actually preoccupied with my new business. I am still at the start up phase. Well, it is not really a phenomenal one but I am keen on doing it.

I believe in our company’s mission which is to educate people and to help them secure their retirement and family security.

I am fromPhilippineswhere we thought that the only option to have a better life is to work abroad while leaving behind our love ones. Unfortunately, most of us are not financially literate. We are always confused between assets and liabilities.

So what happens, we put our hard earned money into investments which we think are assets but actually liability in real sense. More so, our generosity to our families is endless.

Hence it is quite a common scenario that Filipinos who work abroad ends up with limited funds for their old age. The sad part, these limited funds usually end up in hospital bills and medication.

Anyway, I will post more about my business at the later stage. It is for those who are keen on the following:-

  • Education about personal finance
  • Wants to increase their cash flow or have an extra income
  • Learn about better investment options
  • Keen to secure their finances for their future

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Posted in Extra Income, Finances, freelance writing, Investments

Online Jobs for Real…

Posted on August 21, 2011 by | 3 Comments

Working online has kept me busy for the last one week. I took up writing gigs again to keep my sanity. (LOL!)

Right now, I am somehow in a transition period from being a working individual to a home based person. I usually took short vacations only. The longest I can remember was three weeks and that period was packed with travel plans.

As I am expecting, I am not fit to travel except for short trips only. So to keep me occupied for the next few weeks, I started scouring the internet for online jobs. I used to work as part time online writer before but I totally stopped earlier this year because of the workload in my full time job.

Now, I am just glad to write again. I actually find it very therapeutic. Anyway, I sent my applications to potential online employers and recently I started receiving some feedbacks. Honestly, I was overwhelmed to realize how lucrative the offers are. If you are working at home, then it is really a decent package considering that you do not have expenses for transportation, lunch and office uniforms.

Earlier I was not convinced in working online as a full time job and relying on it as a bread-and-butter until my sister worked as an online based HR Officer. Seeing her for the last two weeks working and functioning as a typical HR Officer (but based online) amazed me. The only drawback is she works in the evening because her employer is based in the US.

Anyway, it has always been my plan to join the bandwagon of web workers and now that I have a better grasp of it, I wish to take that big career leap soon.

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Posted in Extra Income, Finances, freelance writing

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Saddened to Decline Online Gigs

Posted on August 3, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Last week I was so engrossed applying for online writing jobs. I wanted to augment my income to shell out more cash hoping to increase my investment funds. Days later I started to receive feedbacks and interviews along with some requirements or trial tests.

As much as I wanted to land online gigs, I was caught up for the last few days with my office work and travel plans. There were the handovers, reports and so on in the office that I needed to complete before my leave.

And with my travel schedule next week, my spare time was consumed on shopping and attending some documents that had to be processed in our embassy. Also, as it is Ramadan most offices are open only until 2pm.

Basically everything was a rush.

Anyway, I am sad that I emailed them back today to turn down the potential online gig offers. I miscalculated the demand of my office work and the upcoming travel schedule. I am hoping that by mid of August once I am settled then I will source out again potential online gigs.

 

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Posted in Extra Income, Finances, freelance writing

Lazy Long Weekend…

Posted on September 11, 2010 by | 1 Comment

I wish this is my long lazy afternoon..

I had been looking forward to this weekend, a 3-days consecutive off, because of Eid Al-Fitr. Somehow my things-to-do-list has already been clearly written in my mind days in advance.     

And here I am on the second day of Eid holiday, struggling to complete one sentence and not making any progress in my writing projects.   

I fret for each minute that passes because I know I could have written and finished at least one of my writing assigments. Unfortunately, it seems my mind is stubborn and uncooperative.. I find it difficult to write.   

As a result, I have been wasting my time since morning watching documentary movies and surfing the net.   

Sigh.. I really cannot afford to continue doing like this today and tomorrow. After this Eid break, I will be busy again and for sure I will not have an ample time to write again.   

I must be productive during this long weekend. I have to..

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Posted in Extra Income, Life in Abu Dhabi, Public Holidays

Online Extra Income

Posted on September 4, 2010 by | 7 Comments

There is no such as job security nowadays here. As much as the management wants to keep their staff, the business is just really bad that the only way to survive is to let go some employees

This is the reason that I am always on a look out to find means to augment my income. So, I was very excited when I learned another online job opportunity here.

For me, it is really important to have diverse source of income streams because companies now cannot guarantee any job security.  Sad reality but true..

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Posted in Extra Income

Part Time Writing Jobs

Posted on September 2, 2010 by | Leave a comment

I always dream of pursuing a writing career unfortunately I am not in the liberty to give up my current daytime job, my bread & butter, because of financial commitments.

So, I pursue my dream career as a part time. Honestly, it is not easy to juggle a demanding daytime job and meeting the deadlines of my writing projects but still I cannot simply give up my ultimate dream career.

I do not allow my present predicament to deter my commitment to be a fulltime writer.  

Right now, I am happy earning from my part time writing jobs in which a big portion of it goes to sending off a friend of mine to college. Lately, I found a good source of writing jobs here that offer lucrative pay. I hope that it will continue as it greatly contributes to my extra income.

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Posted in Extra Income, freelance writing

Culminating 2009 with a Smile

Posted on December 27, 2009 by | 10 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!

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Posted in Extra Income, freelance writing

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Supplementing My Income through Freelance Writing

Posted on December 5, 2009 by | 21 Comments

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!

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Posted in Extra Income

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