CHALLENGE $1000 2020 – Make $1000 extra in 2020!

As you may recall, I did the “make $500 challenge” back in the summer of 2019. The purpose of the challenge was to make enough extra money to fund my new Questrade TFSA. Now that that’s done, I’m challenging myself to make $1000 extra in 2020 over and above what I accounted for in my annual income forecast in order to bump up my savings rate for the year. Hurray!

The Details

Now I considered just saying “for the year” because it’s easy. Make $1000 before December. However when I’m not given a very tight timeline, I tend to delay activities to reach the goal until the last possible minute, resulting in not actually meeting the goal (sorry, university professors, for all the late essays). Therefore, I feel like I need to make the deadline a bit more strict. Let’s say 6 months to make 1k. That’s a nice round $166.67 per month. Well, I guess it’s not THAT round. The official start will be March 1st 2020, with a deadline of September 30, 2020!

What will I do to make $1000 in the next 6 months?

1. 1. 1. Sell my stuff.

         I have a few boxes already set aside of things to purge. I am pretty sure I have a few hundred dollars worth of stuff. That’s a good start! I also set up a Poshmark.ca account to allow me to sell clothing & accessories online. I’m excited to try this out!  Up-Front Effort: LOW. Swiftness of Return: MEDIUM-FAST. $ on the table: Moderate.

      2. Work a wee bit on improving my blog

         Ideally, it could generate a tiny bit of income. Everything helps! Up-Front Effort: HIGH. Swiftness of return: SLOW. $ on the Table: Very little.

      3. Make more of an effort to get Usertesting jobs

         I have also signed up for a couple of other testing sites; I just need to dedicate time to this! Up-Front Effort: VERY LOW. Swiftness of Return: FAST. $ on the table: Little-Moderate.

      4. Start a small business.

I have 4 different ideas in the hopper, only one of which will require startup money. They are:

• • • • Put SOMETHING in my Etsy store. This will require hours of creative efforts, which I actually enjoy doing, but just struggle to find the time. Up-Front Effort: HIGH. Swiftness of return: SLOW. $ on the table: Little-Moderate?
      • Sell photos. There are many sites online that will purchase your photos – this aligns with my goal to become a better photographer. I have an awesome digital SLR camera that was gifted to me, and I always want to get better at using it. Why not work towards my goal and also monetize the journey? Up-Front Effort: MEDIUM. Swiftness of return: SLOW. $ on the Table: Little-Moderate
      • Pick up free/inexpensive stuff and sell it for a profit. This is something I’ve been interested in ever since I heard an interview on the House of FI podcast with a couple who started with one free thing, and then just kept doing that until it turned into their full-time gig. They started out picking up free stuff from the ends of driveways, or from the “free” section on Craig’s list. Now, they actually buy stuff and sell it for a profit (all monies made from free items go back into the business pot for future purchases). Up-Front Effort: LOW-MEDIUM. Swiftness of Return: MEDIUM. $ on the table: little, to start.
      • Drop shipping. my brother and I are going to work on this one together. He also wants to retire sometime before 60, and is older than I am. He lives in a high cost of living area and will need to put extra effort into side gigging to bump up his savings. Our goal is to get a small business up and running before Christmas. Up-Front Effort: HIGH. Swiftness of Return: SLOW-MEDIUM? Depending on how good we are at marketing. $ on the table: Potentially Moderate-High?

Based on my non-scientific analysis, it appears that selling my stuff & usertesting are the least amount of work, and the  fastest ways to earn a bit of extra cash inside of 6 months. However they are not the most lucrative.  I think the plan will be to target these 2, while spending extra time on the drop-shipping business, since someone else is relying on me to do something with that.

CAN I DO IT?

I’m not sure.  As you can see, I’m brimming with confidence! I think the key is making the challenge a habit. Time will be dedicated on a regular basis. A system will be put in place to allow me to work towards the goal. My plan is to post monthly updates on my successes and failures. Stay tuned to find out!

Let me know if this is something you would like to join in on, and if so, how you will be making your extra $1000. Keep calm and FIRE on!