Learn how you can organize your bills so that they seem less of chore and more of an achievement.

You see them every day, and you hate to open them. What more exciting news could they possibly bring than reminding you of your obligation? Don’t they realize there is a recession going on? Do they think you have extra cash lying around? Rather than looking at them like the 800-pound ogre that won’t go away, begin organizing bills by priority and take a conquering approach to them.

According to psychologist Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the first thing you have to satisfy are physiological needs such as food, shelter and breathing. This is generally a good guideline to follow, but you don’t have to exactly stick to it to the T as you’re organizing which bills to pay first. You may want to consider this recommendation.

Keep a Roof Over Your Head

As you’re leafing through those dreaded envelopes, organizing the bills in order of least ulcer-inducing, remember first that you’ve got avoid sleeping under a bridge. Mortgages may be the biggest pain because they are the largest payment, but if you consistently miss paying that bill, then be prepared to pitch your tent underneath the nearest overpass. Okay, perhaps that’s a bit harsh. At least consider that you have to first take care of your physical needs.

Got to Get Around

The second priority in organizing your bills is making your car payment. Unless you live in a city and have daily access to fast public transport, you need be able to get to and from work or to that next job fair. In the United States, Canada and other spread out societies, you can’t really go too far without wheels. We are highly dependent on cars to perform day-to-day functions.

Health Insurance

Despite this being under large debate in the government, health care is not something to gamble with. Swine flu, cancer treatments, disability-related injuries, obesity and stress-related symptoms have all affected physical and mental health in some form or another, especially in this economy. You need to be able to see the doctor whenever necessary. Don’t leave your health to chance and whimsy.

Who’s On First

Pay the bill that has the earlier date. You might have thought this would be the first criterion in paying bills, but you have to consider your personal needs as you’re organizing. Can you afford a negative balance in your checking account until payday rolls around the next week? Or can you afford to lose your house for a month as you maintain a positive balance in your checking account? Once you meet your physical needs, then you can take on the pesky bill that knocks early at your door.

Highest Percentage Credit Cards

Paying off high interest-rate credit cards is emphasized time and again by financial experts for good reason. Missing these payments on a consistent basis just piles on unnecessary fees. Remember that you are paying a penalty for being late. If you show up late to a meeting, you get a stern look. If you’re late with a promised card payment, you’re slapped with an added cost you don’t need right now. Some credit cards are a lot harsher about your delinquency than others by how high they charge you.

Are get-paid-to-click Web sites worth the time investment? (Photo: picasaweb.google.com)

I’ve tried quite a few get-paid-to-click (GPT) sites that will pay you to click on advertisements or read E-mails. They are typically free to join with the option to upgrade your membership for more privileges and more advertisements. Don’t get too excited. You would only be clicking for pennies. Most budding GPT sites pay just a fraction of a cent, usually ¼ to ¾ of a cent. You have to earn a minimum amount before you can be paid.

The Payout Minimum Is A Clue

If you see a get-paid-to-click site with a low pay out of $2 or $3, these sites might not be worth your time. It means you’ll either be earning a fraction of a cent per click, or you won’t receive more than 5-10 ads a day. However, if the site offers a minimum payout of $25, this could be a good sign that click pay rates are high, with more chances of earning money. Be sure to investigate further. Sites like Adflasher offer 10 cents per click with a payout of $30.

Be equally careful of sites that offer a $1 per click. Those are most likely scams that require you to pay a membership. Remember, get-paid-to click sites get their revenue from advertisers. If you’re asked to pay for a get-paid-to-click membership upon sign-up that offers no free membership, that should fly red flags in your mind. Inability to get sufficient advertisers could indicate an inability to pay you.

Multiply Your Revenue With Referrals

The real way to make any money with get-paid-to-click sites is by obtaining more referrals, because you earn a percentage of what they make on the site as well. This can help you gain money faster, but realize they’re clicking for just pennies, too. Some get-paid-to-click sites allow you to buy referrals that sign up from the site’s main home page. It’s a good idea to obtain them as quickly as possible. But what if your referrals just sit there and do nothing? Your GPT site will usually trade them out for more active referrals after a certain period of time.

Advertisers Are a Must

In order for you to click on ads, advertisers need to have a reason to advertise on your GPT site. If your site is new, it can take a while before you see a stable stream of advertisers. Therefore, the site will have to campaign very hard to attract advertisers along with clickers. Be sure your GPT site is very clear about its policies. A site that updates and informs its members on a weekly basis is a reputable site. If you get absolutely no contact from your site’s staff, steer clear. You have lazy admin, or a site not willing to make improvements or worse, not pay you. You never want to be in the dark about how and when you’ll be paid. Most sites pay via PayPal or Alert Pay, but a few sites will pay you by check.

Are GPT Sites Worthwhile?

Get-paid-to-click sites are an easy way to earn small cash, but unless you have a serious number of referrals and a profitable click rate, you’re only going to be earning a few dollars a month at best. Plus, the task can get boring very quickly. If you don’t mind clicking for a few dollars at the end of the month, then GPT sites are probably for you. If you need a more challenging way to make money online, you may want to consider other options such as freelance writing or affiliate marketing.

Times are hard and people are losing jobs left and right. If you could use some extra cash, why not try writing freelance on the internet?

Yes, there are actually internet companies that will pay you $10 to $25 per article, provided your writing meets certain criteria. As a freelance writer, you sell articles to these companies to be posted on their web pages. If your articles are accepted, you can make a decent living just by writing from the comfort of your own home.

Can I really get paid just for writing?

Yes, you really can. You don’t have to have a degree in journalism to start freelance writing, but you do have to be able to write clearly and coherently. If you can compose a fluent email, are mindful of your grammar and spelling, and can easily accept critiques from an editor, you’re pretty much good to go!

Editors will reject articles that don’t live up to the standards of the website, but don’t let that stop you. Simply take it as a learning experience to improve your writing skills and keep submitting. If you’re able to write or at least willing to learn, all you  need is a computer, an internet connection, and a PayPal account.

What’s so important about content on the internet?

There’s a saying floating around the net: “Content is king.” Word content on a website is crucial because it draws readers to the site. Understanding how search engines work can shed light on the question. When you look for a topic on the internet, you pull up a search engine like Yahoo or Google and type in a word or a short phrase. These are called keywords. You hit enter and a list of your search results appears.

Internet companies go to great lengths to make sure their site appears on the first page of your search results, a process called search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is labor-intensive, but more cost effective than paying for advertisements. Internet companies don’t always have the time or manpower required to update the content of their sites, so they outsource the work to freelance writers like me, and hopefully, like you.  The continual need for new content — new words in new articles — is why freelance writing can be a lucrative business.

How do I get paid for freelance writing?

Internet businesses generally pay their freelance writers in one of two ways: upfront or residually. Upfront payment means you write an article with a certain number of words, and the website buys your article for an agreed price. For example, the company may offer $15 for a 300-word article. Residual payment means that instead of being paid an agreed lump-sum when your article is accepted, you are paid a share of the revenues generated as your article draws traffic and readers click on the ads surrounding it.

Where do I start?

Personal Money Market is a great place to get started. It’s easy to join, and the company offers several different payment options. If you’re just starting out, you may want to try the pay-per-post option first, and then build your way up to better paying gigs. Simply contact the site for more information and follow their guidelines. That’s all it takes to get started making extra cash as a freelance writer.

Despite Japan being one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, it is largely a cash-based society. Larger stores do allow you pay with a credit card, but on the whole, Japanese shoppers don’t use credit cards as often as Americans do. I was told this before I was stationed in Tokyo and warned not to use my credit card, but I decided to try it anyway.

Option One or Two?

I bought some household items at a well-known Japanese retail chain and pulled out my Master Card. I was terribly curious to see if I could actually use it, and I had enough money to pay in cash just in case my advisers were right.

The cashier recounted to me in Japanese each item she rang up, not that I understood what she was saying. Obviously she realized this because when it came time to announce the total, she smiled politely and turned the display around for me to see the price. I handed her my credit card. She smiled, asked me something in Japanese and held up two fingers, one at a time: one or two?

What Does It Mean?

Oh, boy. I wasn’t sure but decided to take a guess. One. She nodded, took my charge card, rang up the purchase and gave me the receipt. Now I’m curious. I had to know what the one or two thing meant. Sadly, no one on the base nor at work knew.

Even my friend who’d been in Japan longer than me simply advised, “All I know is you just say one.”

Enlightenment

Then one day, a translator came in from the States. We had lunch, and I was dying to ask him about the one or two credit card option. Finally, I had found someone who had a clue. Apparently, the Japanese credit card system is fashioned after the original American Express program, where you could split the charge or pay for it in total. When you choose option one, you’re asking to pay for the entire charge. If you choose option two, your charge is split into two consecutive bills.

For the Japanese, regardless of whether you choose option one or two, you are required you to pay the entire balance on your credit card each month. In other words, if you owed $300 and chose to split the bill, you would be charged $150 at the register. The following month you would be charged another $150. In both cases you would be required to pay the full balance of $150 when your credit card bill is due. There is no option of a minimum payment like in the United States.

Image from wikimedia.

How often do we look on packages at the grocery store and check out what the serving sizes are? It’s clear as day what are the recommended portions, yet we tend to eat much more than that.

Get in the habit of measuring every meal by its serving size, and you could save on your grocery bill and avoid using credit cards.

Buy In Bulk? What For?

Often we are told to buy in bulk for savings. It makes sense to do so with household items such as toilet paper, boxes of Kleenex, or paper towels.

However, food shouldn’t be treated in the same manner unless you expect a terrible storm or a massive famine. If the food is in the house, you are likely to eat it unnecessarily which can lead to weight gain. And once the shelves look empty, who’s to stop you from buying even more food?

Getting Fatter

It’s well known that obesity is a serious problem in America. With every fad diet out there telling you what to do, what to eat, how to eat, it’s no wonder that Americans are confused.

We have a plethora of information, but we’re still getting fatter, and we’re spending even more money to learn how to stop. Isn’t there a simpler way to go about this, such as portion control? Measuring your serving size?

Calories In and Calories Out

Experts still emphasize that calories expended must be more than calories taken in to lose weight. They also hammer portion control, sometimes making analogies to visual cues. For example, a serving of steak should be the size of your fist.

Those visual clues can be confusing, though, and don’t apply to many foods. It might be just easier to go with what the labels says. The nutrients are already divided up and measured for you.

If one cup of pancake mix produces four servings, and you’re the only one eating, you only want to eat one quarter of the amount. That equals one serving. Don’t go over that. By strictly following what’s on the labels, you can save on your wallet, waistline and future medical bills.

Get Some Exercise

Get some daily exercise. It doesn’t matter whether it’s walking, running or whatever. Get the blood flowing and the metabolism kicking into gear. You read about it all the time. Just do it.

If you’ve eaten according to serving size, you should know how many calories you’ve consumed and what you need to burn in order to maintain or lose weight. It’ll be easier to keep track of your budget, and you can rack up on savings each month. Plus, if you plan your meals each day, you can then determine how much food to buy for the entire week. No overspending. No shopping carts filled to the brim with unnecessary food. No spending hundreds of dollars in excess food bills.