How many times did we go and have a look at a kit or unique piece of electronic and went “OUCH I’m $100 short from getting that!”?
Here is Top 10 tips to make sure you have that extra money for your next project:
- Have a budget. A simple spreadsheet showing how much you need compared to how much you actually have is a good start to get a clear picture of how much more you need to earn or save.
- Sell unused old toys and books. Clean up your shelves, and see if you can collect valuable items. Sell them on Ebay or Gumtree.
- Borrow books from library instead of buying. That’s obvious. But if you need latest info, use the library’s Internet access and jot down what you need in a cheap notebook. Online book rentals like Scribd will do too.
- Pack your own lunch. Geeks can cook too. Take a simple peanut butter sandwich from your mom’s fridge at home and be surprised that you will get to keep that $5 note in your pocket everyday.
- Get a job. Well there is no use of being an unemployed geek yet has all the time to build awesome stuff. Someone out there must need your special ability. For sure! Get your lazy bumb out and start looking for one.
- Get extra job. If you have learned programming or other usefull skills, you can earn extra income by teaching others, do freelance programming, or run workshops.
- Don’t buy DVDs. Get Netflix and run it with Chromecast. You will get access to hundereds of movies for just $10 / month. Or if you realy must go to cinemas, cheap in with friends to get student coupons in bulk or use the bonus offer from your Telco providesr. They team up with local cinemas and sell vouchers for just $10.
- Don’t buy games or software ever again. Use Linux and play lots of games and apps for free. Even better: write your own software.
- Reconsile and synch-up your gadgets. Well, we are geeks and we are supposed to own lots of gadgets. Well, NO! We are supposed to invent, build, and sell millions of them! Think of how you can keep maximum of 2, e.g. 1 mobile phone & 1 PC. Use cloud storage like Google Drive or host your own cloud server to keep your devices lean.
- Share and borrow instead of owning. Shareconomics! Go to Meetup.com and look for Raspberry Jam or Hacker Space in your town. They offer free sessions, cheap membership, and tons of tools like solders, screw drivers, monitors, projectors, wires, and others to be shared amongst members. Some of them may even have 3d printer! Just count how much money you need to own and maintain them on your own.
BONUS TIP: Don’t pay for classes, unless you are paying for a real hard-core engineering / computing degree. Heaps of online schools like Udacity or Coursera run awesome tech classes for free or realy cheap.
You got more tips to share?
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