Being Conservative Essays - Wallet, Eating, , Term Papers

Being Conservative Being Conservative As my friends and I enter a nearby McDonalds down the street, we all have one thing on our minds, food. ?A number nine,? one of my friends calls out, ?with an apple pie.? ?I'll take a number three with extra mayo,? another one of my friends says. Finally, it is my turn to order. ?Hmm,? I think to myself. ?I am not going to eat because then I'll have to pay.? I figured if I said I wasn't hungry then my friends will offer me their food, and in the end I wouldn't have to pull out my wallet. A lesson of how to budget money is to be learned from this situation. Many times in everyday life, you must learn how to save money, in other word being what I like to call ?tite,? or ?tight,? as it is commonly known. Being tight, in fact, is a sure way to save money. So, if you are on a budget, the instructions that follow provide the best policy. Eventually, you will have to pay for or share something. Thus, you should learn how to be tight to avoid these certain situations as much as possible. First and foremost, before you decide to be tight, you must understand the concept of a good excuse. For instance, saying you don't have money and then going to the mall and buying an eighty-dollar shirt cannot easily be justified; however, your purchase can be justified if you claim your girlfriend bought the shirt for you. In addition, another good excuse when trying to avoid these situations is saying that you forgot your wallet at home. The ?leaving your wallet at home? excuse is the most common excuse known to tight people. When you are stuck in a situation where you are about to be called tight, this excuse always does the trick. However, you shouldn't overuse this excuse because just like a pair of tennis shoes it gets worn out quickly. When you are hungry, it is always important to check how much money is present in your wallet. If, after looking at your wallet and finding that you are no longer hungry, wait for others to invite you to eat, for an invitation to eat is a sure ticket in not paying for the meal. So be calm and be tight and let others treat you to a meal, which you don't have to pay. In the end, your hunger will be satisfied and your wallet will still be full. Knowing who you are eating with is also important in being tight. If the party you are eating with is tighter than you are, suggest driving in two separate cars. Tell your party you will meet them there. Yet, before you leave for the restaurant, make sure to tell your party to order your food for you. Give them an excuse and tell them you'll be late and will not have time to eat. Then, by the time you get there, your food will be ready and free, for your friends would have made it their business to pay for the food. Again as noted, a good excuse should always be made to avoid paying for your food. However, if your plan does not succeed, go to plan B, which encompass the realm of eating off your friends' plate to satisfy the hunger of your stomach and the drive for saving money in your wallet. However, as a warning, all plans may lose their effect after prolong use. So, it is crucial for you to alternate your plans and excuses as much as possible. Always view the situation at all angles. Remember, in order to be a good ?tightwad,? a person who is tight, you should always take into consideration the techniques you use in being tight. Soon, someone will catch on to your technique; therefore, change your behavior and pay for a meal every now and then. Yet, before you pay, remember that next time your friends will pay for you. Last but not least, always take into consideration paying for a meal when the total amount is small and save the large amounts for your much wealthier friends. Like the money in our

When Content Mills Give You Lemons, Make Lemonade That Pays

When Content Mills Give You Lemons, Make Lemonade That Pays A few years ago, I found myself in a bind. I graduated with my MPS in Publishing and had big plans of earning a full-time income from some sort of writing and publishing. As a single mother who has worked from home for over a decade, returning to the traditional workforce was not an option. I had no It wasn’t long before my search for a writing opportunity led me to  Crowd Content. As far as content mills go, it seemed to be midlevel. I created a writer profile, took a skill level test and started claiming jobs. The general rules are that a writer may accept four jobs at a time, the deadlines are ridiculously tight and inflexible, and gaining â€Å"favorite† status from clients is important. If a deadline is missed or a client complains, the writer is demoted. I quickly accepted jobs of all kinds. I wrote product descriptions for online vape stores, press releases for Las Vegas lingerie parties, and fin tech and legal blog posts. I wrote until 1AM and woke up at 5AM to write some more. Meeting the insane deadlines was an act of futility. But, my skill level was â€Å"4 Star† and I was earning 6 to 7 cents per word, so it added up. After a couple of months, I was consistently making $1800/month. Not a full-time salary, but a start. It didn’t take me long to figure out that even if I worked for eight full hours each day, I would never make more than $3,000/month and that fell remarkably short of my goal. I would have to work smarter, not harder. So, here is what I did: 1. Identify the Big Fish A few of my content mill clients stood out and with a bit of research, I had a list of seven clients that I would love to work for outside of the content mill. 2. Focus on Relationships Content mills desperately try to limit contact between writers and clients to preserve their profitable workflow. I worked within their system to build strong relationships based on reliability and high quality work with my seven clients. These clients expressed frustration with the rigidity of the platform and so we had that in common. 3. Pitch With some research, I contacted my list of seven through either email or social media. (If the content mill knows that you are usurping their platform, they will ban you, so make sure that you are prepared.) My pitch looked something like this: â€Å"I have been writing for your company for a few months. I plan to leave Crowd Content because of the inflexibility of their platform, but would like to continue writing for your company. I am guessing that you pay 12 to 15 cents per word for my blog posts. If you are interested in hiring me outside of Crowd Content, pricing will only be 10 cents per word for future blog posts.† Five of the seven clients replied and hired me outside of Crowd Content. They are now paying less, and I am making more in fewer hours. I complete complex projects that were not supported