Monday, July 13, 2009

Not Always As It Appears

On Saturday, I got an email from MyLot. It asked me to fill out a W-9 before my earning from last month would be released.

Everything in the email appeared to be legitimate to me. I was still hesitant, though. They would have my full name - which they obviously already knew because they used it in the email! - along with my address and social security number. MyLot has proven to be a trustworthy site. As long as they were the ones receiving the information, I didnt mind supplying it. I just wanted to make sure.

I sent a message to a friend on myLot. She lives in Italy, so I wasnt sure if she would know anything about it or not. She didn't and had never seen any discussions about it. So she asked another friend of hers who is an American. They had never heard of it either!

So then a discussion was started. It was labeled as a possible scam for phishing. There were tons and tons of responses. There were a few people who said that they had filled out W-9's for myLot previously. Most of the people said they were 100% certain it was a scam.

They were wrong. I contacted myLot through its site. I quickly got a response indicating that it was indeed legitimate. They were requesting the form because of my earnings. In order to send out a 1099 if my earnings are over $600, they need the information! Because my earnings were just over $115, it will be easy for me to reach the $600 mark this year.

I wasn't too worried at first. However, as soon as I started reading some of the other responses to the discussion and started getting worried. Did someone have access to my information? Did they know my passwords? What exactly was going on!

Im glad that I didnt jump to conclusions. I dont regret asking for advice and finding out that it was legitimate - I still dont want my information in the wrong hands! However, I do feel bad for all of the rumors that have started because of a legitimate request! Hopefully I can avoid that in the future

I am relieved that everything is well. And I should be getting my $115 soon!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Opportunity

Since I wrote about my job situation last month, I have had a lot of time to think. I am thrilled with the way things are turning out.

I have a week left at this job. I do not have another job lined up yet. I am not at all worried about it! I will be filing for unemployment. I also learned that I will probably be able to continue to work some hours doing security - which I have been doing regularly for the last year. With these 2 things combined, my income will not change! We wont be cash strapped and we wont be dipping hardcore into our savings.

That said, we will probably be able to save more! I will no longer be driving 35 miles each way to work. That will save tons of money on gas. My car insurance will drop significantly because I wont be driving nearly as much. In fact, I expect I will get a refund for the current premium and the next one will be less! Those 2 things alone will make a huge difference.

I am expecting another payment from myLot in the next few days. It isnt nearly as much as I had hoped at one time, but I stopped doing as many tasks a little over halfway through the month. I havent earned a lot this month, but I know that the earnings will only continue to increase. Without a job, I can spend more time working on tasks to make a decent amount of money there.

I have also been working on a project to make money by selling goods. I will post more on that later - hopefully soon!

So, there is the potential to have more money coming in than I do working full time! That is exciting to me, I never would have expected that!

The other thing that I will be concentrating on is the money going out. With more time at home, I will have more time to prepare meals. I plan to keep track of how much I am spending on different things. I want to reduce the money we spend on food. Not because we have to, but because it is always nice to have that extra money. I was just recently introduced to 2 websites that I think will be a huge help. $5 Dinners and A Year of Slow Cooking. I have found some great recipes and tips on both websites. I am excited to try them out!

I also think that it will help me with my weight and health goals. They have really been pushed to the wayside lately. I want to change that. Having time to focus on me will be a huge help!

Of course, I also have plans to get a lot of things done around the house. We have started to accumulate junk. That needs to go. There is some yard work that desperately needs done. There are some things that I need to get done around Mom's house as well. This will give me a chance to do those things.

Although I was some what nervous and very frustrated at first, Im not anymore. What originally seemed like a failure, a roadblock, is now a great opportunity. I know that things will turn out fantastically because opportunities allow us to make changes. I am going to make the changes that make my life turn out the best way possible.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Paid: Inbox Dollars

I got home yesterday expecting to get a paycheck in the mail from my part time job. (I did find that!) What I didnt expect was a check from Inbox Dollars.

In May, I had requested payment. Inbox Dollars pays all of their members via check. I assume it is to help keep the fraud down. They also require a waiting period before the checks are mailed. Because I requested my check in May, the waiting period wasthe month of June. At the beginning of July, the checks were printed and mailed.

I got mine yesterday. The total was $30.36. Not a lot of money - but I will take anything I can get!

One of the benefits of having gotten your first payment is a 'Gold Membership'. It doesnt cost you anything - you get it automatically for having recieved your first payment. When people sign up for Inbox Dollars without listing a referrer, they are randomly assigned to a Gold Member. My earnings could increase with each of those members - all for doing nothing extra!

So far, I have only $3.30 towards my next payment. But I will get there again. And when I do, I will have another check for my efforts!

Check it out for yourself here.