My Day Job Is Not Enough

Finding Fulfillment In Many Ways

by in Lifestyle on Feb 1st, 2012

I don’t know what it is inside of me, but it’s been there since college.  It’s a tugging force that has always had me interested in working for myself someday and being the “boss.”  It all started during college when I ran a small furniture moving company with a good friend of mine.

We did it all.  Everything from advertising to the actual labor and renting U-HAUL trucks, we were out on a mission to please our clients.  We would plaster Craigslist with our ads and were hungry to make more and more money.  At the end of the day, our goal was to pay for college.  Unlike most students, I was on my own and all my tuition was up to me.

Working at a restaurant or grocery store was never going to cut it when tuition was fast approaching $8,000 per year.  I had to “go at it alone” and blaze my own trail!  Well, guess what, it worked.  I made so much money that not only did I graduate college debt free, but I was able to buy a car that I had always wanted.

That fire and drive has never left me.  I guess it’s considered the entrepreneur trait.  Ever since the furniture moving company, I have always sought out ways I could be the boss.  Although day jobs are great, they have never fully satisfied my need to be at the top of the ladder NOW. Read More

The No Excuses Approach For Achieving What You Desire

by in Personal Finance on Jan 30th, 2012

When it comes to finances I’ve heard all of the excuses in the book.

I don’t have time. I don’t have enough money. When I make more money then I’ll…
I don’t know how…

When starting a new year we like to make resolutions and set goals. Whether it’s about your finances, or lifestyle, I think it’s good to start planning for the future. But none of that thinking and planning matters if you can’t get out of your own way.

I know you don’t want to hear this, but if you listen to your excuses and let them keep you from moving toward your goals, I can guarantee that 2012 won’t be like you hope.

WHAT 50+ MILLIONAIRES TOLD ME Read More

How to Overcome “Project Overload”

by in Lifestyle on Jan 24th, 2012

I have a serious problem, and I’m sure a lot of you can relate.  I have too many ideas and I try to do too many at a time.  I used to think “I have too many ideas and not enough time,” but I was going about it the wrong way.  There’s no use in whining about our limited time, so I changed my tone.  The real problem isn’t that I don’t have enough time, or even that I have so many ideas – it’s that I try to do them all at once.

Since I’ve started blogging, I’ve seen the potential to build up a piece of online real estate (yes, a fancy word for a simple blog) into a platform to explode your idea into something awesome.  I’m sure you can relate to the thrill of watching your subscribers, AdSense, or visitors reach record levels – it’s exciting!

But…it’s like crack.  (No, I’ve never used crack, but you get what I mean :) )  Once you find success with one idea, you get inspired to do it again and seek out that same high you got from the first one.

If you go about it in the right way, you can really build up an empire of great sites built from excellent ideas.  If you go about it in the wrong way, you can really screw up your primary blog, and feel defeated by the lack of results. Read More

Patience And Persistence: The Attributes For Unlimited Success

by in Lifestyle on Jan 14th, 2012

One of the best aspects of being a Yakezie member and personal finance blogger is building relationships with other bloggers and readers. Recently, more than a few bloggers have asked me why I take on certain freelance jobs and basically, why I blog when the money is so insignificant compared to my other sources of income. In fact, here’s a direct quote from Paula at Afford Anything.

 “What motivates you to do this, given that you already have such a great job?”

I recently tackled that question on my site and I know many of you ask yourselves that question as well. Some version of this question, “Why am I participating in this marginally lucrative and time eating hobby?” rattles around in our collective brains at some point or another, I am certain.

Today, I am going to depart from the guarded stance I take on my site and disclose some of my past career and financial mistakes. This article offers insights into how wisdom grows from failures and mistakes. My goal is to provide perspective to those slow growers and motivation to continue in spite of obstacles.

A TIME I QUIT TOO SOON Read More

Creating An Income Stream To Grow Bigger Dreams

After I was finished with grad school, I had a job lined up and was feeling pretty good. I moved into the city where my new job would be and was then informed that because of the downturn (this was in spring 09) that the project I was slated to be working on was being pushed back indefinitely, and I was out of a job.

Of course, I wasnt happy about this and needed to get an income quickly. I started brainstorming ideas about businesses that I could start related to things I was interested in, and all of them required a large amount of start up capital – large being way more than I had at the time (which was basically nothing).

THE THINGS I DREAMED OF STARTING Read More

A Better Way Of Doing Things By Not Doing Everything

Pick One Thing and Become Really Good At It

by in Lifestyle on Jan 8th, 2012

About the Author: Joel Ohman is a serial entrepreneur and a Yakezie member/sponsor. You may know him from some of his posts over on Credit Card Chaser (check out the new one on the 20 most expensive credit card receipts ever for a good laugh) or you may know him as the owner of the recent Yakezie writing contest sponsor CarInsuranceCompanies.com. His most recent project is fun website for finding a workout plan, logging workouts, and competing against friends to rack up points for working out. Check out the 100′s of online workout programs if you’re in the mood to get fit.

I love the recent post by Financial Samurai titled “Feel Stupid Sometimes? Me Too And I Hate It!” because it reminds me of a lot of mistakes that I have made and now look back on with oh so fond memories. Consider this post a follow up to Financial Samurai’s in the vein of, “OK, if you hate feeling stupid and not being the absolute best at everything you attempt then – THAT’S OK! Just STOP trying to do everything and become really really good at something.

Let’s unpack that statement a little bit. Read More

Hire Great Freelancers to Help With Your Website Or Online Business

How Can Yakezie Help You?

by in Lifestyle on Dec 9th, 2011

Do you need some help with your blog or website? Perhaps you need to delegate some tasks, so that you can focus on your core business.

No matter what your needs, you came to the right place! We have a great team of honorable and experienced freelancers here at the Yakezie. Our members cover a wide range of skills and abilities, from A to Z.

You will notice a new Blogger Services link on the top right hand corner of the home page now.  How can we help out?

YAKEZIE BLOGGER SERVICES Read More

Feel Stupid Sometimes? Me Too And I Hate It!

There Are No Dumb Questions, Only Unasked Ones

by in Lifestyle on Dec 2nd, 2011

I hate feeling stupid.  It drives me absolutely up the wall when I can’t figure out how to put the proper coding into my website for example.  I feel so lost when I don’t understand what all my fellow online friends are talking about when they speak in acronyms.  You know like, “What’s your CMS?”  Huh?  You want some Cold Meat Salami?  Let me go check the fridgerator, be right back.

Of course the coder isn’t asking me for my salami.  That’s just silly, unless he was a she, then maybe it might make more sense and be more acceptable.  Whuh? He’s asking about what my Content Management System is.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh, OK!  Still, what the hell is that?  I just use WordPress for my blog.  Ain’t that good enough?  Why speak in code?  I feel dumb.

THERE’S ALWAYS HOPE DUMB DUMB Read More

Gain Time And Money Through Outsourcing And Trade

Specialize In What You Are Good At, Outsource The Rest

by in Lifestyle on Nov 23rd, 2011

When I started out blogging, I was taking care of everything myself. I was writing 2-3 posts a week, submitting to carnivals, writing up weekend editions, guest posts, hosting carnivals, etc…. I was working a full-time job, and I had school on the side for at least half of the time, so the bit of time I had left was split in many different ways.

There’ve been a few points when I nearly approached burnout in my short blogging career. I remember seeing the visitor count and subscriber count stay stagnant, day after day, and I remember being stuck at PR 0 for the longest time when Google wasn’t making updates! It was a little frustrating to see, and I wondered why I was spending so much time on something that didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

One of the reasons I was approaching burnout is because I simply had too many tasks on my plate. There are parts of blogging that I really enjoy, such as writing and interacting with the readers, but I’ll be honest with you: I’d rather listen to screeching nails on a blackboard than submit my posts to a bunch of carnivals, week after week after week. I simply find it a chore, and it’s when you don’t enjoy something that you are at risk of burnout.

When does DIY work? Read More

How to Avoid Post-Frequent Flyer Miles Collection Depression

There are a lot of folks who are disappointed with airline mileage programs.

Many people I’ve talked to decided to sign up for a travel credit card to earn miles, and then before they knew it, they had enough miles for a free trip – or so they thought.

When it came time to redeem their flights, they found out there was only one day they could fly; they’d have to leave on Christmas day and return on New Years. Then they found out that flights from Los Angeles to New York were booked. The only available destination was in North Dakota.

They vow on that day never to use a mileage based credit card again.

When I was in high school, we had these bi-annual banquets where guys would put on suits and buy flowers for girls. The problem was that every one of them ended in disappointment because everyone’s expectations were too high, and disappointment was sure to follow.

I think a big part of the problem with earning frequent flyer miles, just like those high school banquets, can be attributed to unfair expectations.

How to Create Appropriate Expectations for Your Airline Frequent Flyer Miles Read More

Simple Mortgage Payment Calculator
Mortgage Payment Calculator
  • Marissa: I always wanted to sell cars. THIS IS MY CHANCE.
  • American Debt Project: I agree with you, the US is truly like nowhere else in the world and I am grateful for the...
  • Taline: Great post Jon! Although I enjoy by day job (maybe because I only work 13 days in a month) I have always had...
  • Aloysa: The only problem is that those FB and Google people are not interested in marrying anyone and sharing their...
  • 20s Finances: hilarious post – I wish it were that easy to make money off of the rich people. On a side note,...
  • krantcents: Do I really want to move the one of the most expensive areas of the country with only the chance of...
  • Charles @ MoneyGreenLife: that proves it. there’s just no easy way to become super rich over night…maybe...
  • Glen Craig - Free From Broke: I can’t say I agree with the whole gold-digging, but I like the way you look at...
  • Jeff @ Sustainable Life Blog: Great points sam – money will soon be falling from the sky as these people look...
  • Jeremy @ Personal Finance Whiz: My wife probably wouldn’t go for for this. Blast! My plans for being a gold...
Yakezie Membership Support
Yakezie.com

© 2012 Yakezie.com | All Rights Reserved

Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Contact Yakezie

Personal Finance Lifestyle Writing Contest

The Yakezie is one of world's largest and most sophisticated network of personal finance and lifestyle bloggers. Through collaboration and the selfless support of others, we strive to improve the lives of every one of our visitors.

About Yakezie