If you are an Average Joe who wants to travel the world, see things that you have only read about in magazines and have experiences that others brag about, all you have to do is one thing; learn to save your nickels.
It took me a long time to learn this. A very long time. Now, I have adjusted my whole mindset towards achieving my Average Joe travel goals. And it started with me learning that for every dollar earned, or every part of a dollar thereof earned, those are dollars worth my every effort to go and get.
On one end of the spectrum, I return bottles to get my $0.05 cent refund; beer bottles, soda cans, even if I find them in the trash, I will dig a bottle or can out to return it. Even if it is one bottle, I will return it and get my nickel. It is that simple. I am not a cheapskate by any means. I spent lavishly on those things I want and on those who I want to spend on. But, I know that to have the means of doing what I want relies on me doing one thing, always getting my nickels.
Once that mindset took hold, I committed myself to never giving up. I always work harder than anyone around me. I am always exploring new money making ideas. I experiment. I ask others who are making money, what is working for them. I listen to mentors. And, I try, try and try.
I was coaching a friend on secret shopping. I explained how my secret shopping was but one tool in my bag of tricks that allows me the freedom to do so many extra things without going into debt. I even took him on a secret shop, walked him through it, and explained the process as we worked through the shop. The shop paid out $10.00. Which for that company, was golden. It took us ten minutes to do the secret shop.
I then followed up months later and ask how he was doing. He said never did another secret shop. “Not enough money,” he said, “not worth my time to do them.”
“Your right,” I replied nonchalantly. Now, whenever I go to visit him, I always take the time to go and do the secret shops in his neighborhood myself. I will take those dollars that he leaves laying around. Those dollars are going to come in handy when I am laying by the pool sipping my Blue Hawaiians on Oahu this summer.
The Moral of This Story
Once you change your mindset and realize that for every nickel you save, those saved nickels will put you ever closer to chasing your dreams be it summering in Hawaii, standing in the Coliseum in Rome, or partying on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. It all starts with changing your mindset and chasing after those nickels, no matter where you find them; be it couponing, side hustles, or even manufactured spending. Those few dollars you make today will add up to thousands of dollars tomorrow.
If you are looking for extra money making ideas, I highly recommend, The Side Hustle Nation.
This a great business/finance blog that discusses and highlights what other Average Joes are doing to make extra money in their spare time. I have heard some great ideas here and some of these ideas I am working on incorporating into my own side hustling in the near future.
But oddly no one has talked about returning bottles and cans. I guess that is one side hustle left to me!
If you have an idea for making money, shout it out to the Average Joes!