Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Paying off Our Debts & Saving for our Dreams $4 at a Time #Fiverr #Proofreading #MakeMoney


*This post was originally sent into the blogosphere September 12, 2015, but with the new year coming in hot, I thought I'd repost. We have moved since this post, paid off the credit card entirely, and just paid off my van. I still work for Fiverr and do other things online :-)

It's no secret I have loved Dave Ramsey for a long time. I love his common sense approach and his STOP WHINING attitude. Last fall, due to some different factors, we started adding debt to our credit card, which we had always been able to pay off previously. Then came Christmas, then we bought a bigger vehicle, and then this past summer each kid started starting having some sort of medical or dental issue, as well as fees related to homeschooling starting to pop up (co-op, books, backpacks, uniforms, religious ed, sports, field trips, etc.).

Once I finally came out of my denial, I realized I had to do more than I had been doing to pay off not only our credit card and medical debt, but to maybe even LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE someday ... saving money for travel all over the world with my family (which has always been our dream), building a savings account, paying off our vehicle EARLY, paying off our home and moving to a larger space.

BUT HOW?

Back in 2013 when we first got internet access at our home, I found a site called Fiverr.com. I signed up as a proofreader and got many orders immediately. This past year the orders fell off and I was fine with that, as I was busy now with my direct sales businesses and homeschooling. Within the last few weeks, though, I have gotten back on Fiverr full-force and am doing quite well there and can see us paying off our debt $4 at a time. Let me explain!

Basically you sign up on Fiverr.com to do pretty much ANYTHING. Hold signs, do book reviews, proofread, write articles, sell little sewed items, do voice-overs, give advice ... there is pretty much something for everyone to do to make money.

The buyer pays $5 for a service and you get $4. Yes, it seems like 20% is a lot for them to take but (1) they are finding you customers and (2) they give you a lovely website and dashboard to work with and (3) they make the cashing-out process very simple with no minimum.

Now, you can make MUCH MORE than $5 for a service. For example, I charge $5 for proofreading 2,000 words. Do I proofread 2,000 each time and only make $4 total? NO WAY! I proof lots of huge book projects and dissertations and can make up to $200 per project. Fiverr has a Custom Offer button and you can ask for more money, give a deal, extend your delivery time, etc. I even charge $10 ($8 for me) extra if someone wants their order delivered within 24 hours and I am otherwise swamped.

I do most of my proofreading in the mornings when the kids are sleeping before homeschooling starts. I also have to work at night for a while if I have a lot of orders, but the kids are watching movies at night anyway so I try to take the opportunity to pay down debt!

Don't feel sorry for me! Mr. Kerrie makes a lovely wage and we are not broke by any means. I just have big dreams of ZERO debt, a huge savings account and WORLD TRAVEL!

If you or your company have proofreading needs, you can find me here! I usually also have other gigs going on, such as posting book reviews based on the book I have just proofread and book critiquing. I have those gigs paused currently but will get them back up or you can always ask!

Ask me anything in the comments. I'm glad to help you get started on a similar path! Here is my referral code if you want to sign up and give it a try.