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August 10, 2005

Introducing the Ten Dollar Project

Most of the tips I've been writing about deal with how to more effectively save money, and hopefully you've noticed a common theme -- it doesn't take much money to add up over the long term. Just a little bit saved consistently will pay off big time.

But it's time to talk about the other half of the "building wealth" equation -- how can you earn more money than you are now? If you can earn even a tiny bit more and save it regularly, it will add up dramatically.

Of course, you could earn more money by working hard for a raise at your job. That's part of the process of building a career. But since you have little control over how much and how often you get a raise, I'd also like to think of some more creative ways to earn extra money.

The Ten Tollar Project

I'm proposing an informal community experiment. If you want to explore your potential for making some extra money, no matter what your financial situation is, I invite you to join me.

It's called the Ten Dollar Project. The goal is to start with just ten dollars and find out how much money you can turn it into using your spare time and your own unique skills. How to do that is up to you, but I (and the other participants) will be offering ideas and encouragement.

Here are some ideas to get you thinking about it:

  • Scour garage sales for great deals and resell for a profit on eBay.
  • Buy candy in bulk and sell it at work.
  • Sell bottled water like Neville did.
  • Buy some materials, make bead jewelry (or some other craft), and sell it on eBay.

If you can manage to turn your ten dollars into a little more, then reinvest that money and try something a little bigger. Use your profits to grow your project. See how much money you can make with some initiative and creativity.

Ground Rules

This is not about getting rich quick. It's learning how to earn a little extra money and invest it in your future, and making it fun! Hey, if earning money becomes a hobby, you get the added benefit of not spending money on more expensive activities!

Use your ten dollars to purchase materials or goods for resale, or services directly related to the project. Feel free to use any tools or services that you would normally have access to, like a screwdriver, car, computer, Internet access, etc. But anything that you purchase specifically for the project, like web hosting or advertising signs, should come out of your project funds.

Otherwise, how you'll make money is up to you! I'm just providing some motivation and gathering a community together for moral support. That's all there is to it!

It Sounds Like Fun, I Want In!

If you'd like to participate, I encourage you to blog it! Your progress will be something interesting to write about and provides regular content for posts. If you don't have a blog, you can get one for free at Blogger that you could use to document your Ten Dollar Project progress.

If you do, write a post that says you're participating. Throw in some money-making ideas if you have any. Send a trackback ping to this post so that I'll know you're involved (if your blog doesn't support sending trackbacks, you can use Simpletracks). If you don't have a blog or don't want to write one, just leave a comment here with the same information.

Once that's done, keep us updated! Make a quick post when you make a purchase or a significant sale. Share new ideas or interesting stories related to your progress. Let us know how you're doing.

Then roughly once a week, I'll post an update to Hello, Dollar recapping everyone's progress. We'll get to see how the other participants are doing, swap ideas, and encourage each other (it's some free publicity for you, too!).

I'll be posting my own right here alongside the other participants, and I'm excited to see what kind of opportunities come up as a result of this experiment. I hope you'll join me!

Posted by Frank at August 10, 2005 9:51 PM

Comments

Funnily enough I've already done this to pretty great success!

Just over two years ago I was unemployed and desperate for cash to pay bills. I also had a LOT of time on my hands.

I had done a bunch of craft projects for my wedding (3 years in October) and everyone kept telling me how great they were and how I should make and sell them.

When I found myself unemployed I invested less than $10 in craft supplies to make some wedding-themed wine charms to try to sell on ebay. I had five sets of charms to sell and I priced them at $5.50 each. Much to my great surprise I sold all of them. Then I started getting larger orders and offering more items that I had created for my own wedding.

I certainly haven't given up my day job but we were able to make the bills during my 6 month lay-off!

I also started buying items at garage sales and reselling them on ebay. That works, too! I love my side income because I get to have fun crafting and going to estate sales and it's not too much of an effort to make extra money. It does end up taking more time than you might anticipate.

Now that I'm back at work, I use my side income for fun money (I'm also saving for a new laptop)!

Posted by: Isadora
at August 15, 2005 11:04 AM

That's an awesome story, Isadora, thanks for sharing it! I took a look at your site and it looks like you've come quite a way since your original (less than) $10. Nice job -- I hope you get that laptop soon!

Posted by: Frank
at August 16, 2005 8:31 AM

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