If you're new here, this blog will give you the tools to become financially independent in 5 years. Here's how I did it and here's a few dozen online journals from other people who are currently doing it. This is not some stupid get rich quick scheme. The method is robust and replicable (no need to win the lottery, sell your business, or win at real estate), but not easy; much in the same way that a diet results in weight loss but is hard to follow persistently unless you set your mind to it.
The key is to save 75%+ of your net income and invest it in income producing assets (bonds and dividend stocks). This is done by running your personal finances much like a business, thinking about assets and inventory and focusing on efficiency and value for money. See this post on how to enjoy a middle class lifestyle on $7,000/year (Please read it, especially the part about the lentils!). There is a "21 day" step-by-step plan for how to get beyond 75% in the left side bar. Also, check out my answers to Frequently Asked Questions which also covers common misconceptions regarding my personal budget, blog income, retirement, marriage, children, health care, etc. I also suggest reading About ERE in the top menu bar.
Update: In 2011 eHow decided to buy out their writers. At the time, I had been consistently making $10/month from my articles. The buy out offer was $22 to transfer ownership of the articles I had written. Feeling somewhat insulted, I refused and kept my articles. This shows that not owning your revenue platform is a serious liability. I recommend only writing articles for upfront payment or if monetized through advertising or similar deals that you own the website.
I only wrote a couple of eHow articles in October, but earnings were still up.
Here is the income so far
- August: $5.55 (only about 10 days)
- September: $12.10
- October: $16.88
About $7-8 was from a single day, so reasonable earnings are about $10/month for my current “portfolio”. This is equivalent to buying a high-yield position for about $1200 which is not bad for the effort. Alternatively, if the $10 can be considered secure in the long term, the money stream is worth about $3000 in present dollars.
Originally posted 2009-11-01 05:01:54.
Permaculture articles!
