personal finance guide

Hi all,

It has been a hard month. Finding a flat wasn’t easy and it took me more time than I thought. That left with almost no time to try making some money.

In addition, the last two weeks of April I’ve been quite busy trying to plan university lectures and designing my timetable.

As a result my total income for April (still 2 days left) was: 91,60 €. Usabilty tests and correcting Spanish papers have been the income sources.

Thankfully I still have some savings, but I’m running out of savings in May…

My biggest hope at the moment…

The University of Munich has many contacts with companies and getting a part-time job that leaves you time to study isn’t that hard.

I’ll try to look for a job that increases the value of my CV and gives me some money at the same time.

Best regards!
Javier

Tags: finance survival, personal finance

Hi all,

Good news! I got my first job order from a German student. She has a Spanish exam and wants me to correct some writings for her. She already paid me for 9 pages (27€) for this week, and we agreed to 9 pages more for next week (27€ more). That makes up the nice amount of 54€ It’s is a pretty nice start.

On the other hand, on Thursday I have the usability test. I’ll get 27,30€ for surfing a given website for an hour.

That means that a week before the start of the project I’ll make 54,30€.

Teaching German to beginners

I had a look and the English speaking community in Munich is pretty big. Most of them don’t speak German at all, but some of them want to learn it. I decided I’m going to look for prospects in this market, since I learned German in my early twenties and I would be able to teach it to another adult.

I contacted with a girl who wanted private lessons and offered her my services, I’m still waiting for her reply. This income source looks very promising.

Best regards,
Javier

Tags: finance survival, personal finance

Recently I discovered a really interesting personal finance blog (Con 10 euros) from a Spanish student. In his blog he explains his financial project.
- The aim: trying to have lots of money.
- Initial capital: 10 Euros.

The author openly exposes his financial situation and his different ideas to start making money. His wide range of ideas goes from repairing PC’s door by door to sperm donation. Necessity definitely gets the best of us.

I would like to encourage the Con 10 euros author to continue with the project.

In our current financial situation more people with this approach are needed.

Ánimos!

Best regards,
Javier

Tags: finance survival, personal finance

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
Alice in Wonderland

This quote is quite right! It doesn’t make any sense to start walking if you have no clue where you are going. If we apply this principle to our “Financial Survival Project”, we need to know how much money we need before we worry about how to make it. That’s why I need a Budget.

My Personal Budget

I’ve been doing some research and that’s my final budget (in Euros) for my life in Munich.

• Rent= 350€
• Food= 180€
• Transport= 20€
• Miscellanous= 60€
• +10% = 61€
• TOTAL = 671€

My Personal Budget reviewed

Obviously I will renounce to many “luxuries” by adopting such a strict budget, but I prefer to get use to a tight budget and then relax it if things are going better than expected.

• Rent:Munich is a really expensive city on this regard, so I decided to go for house sharing. I’ll try to get a room all included for a maximum of 350€. By all included I mean, Internet + utility bills. If I can get something cheaper, better, but I want to feel comfortable at home. If I need to cut my budget down rent won’t be the first category I’look into.
• Food: I calculated 6€ a day, 6 times 30 is 180. I think it should be more than fine. In Germany students have access to a special Canteen called “Mensa” where food is good and cheap, you can have a nice meal for 3€. Other than that I’ll be buying raw ingredients and cooking at home.
  Yep, you’re right. I won’t be seen in a restaurant for a long long time,… maybe as a waiter… who knows
• Transport:To get around in the city is not that cheap, that’s why I decided I’ll walk everywhere. It’s healthy and cheap, you just need to plan a bit in advance. I budget 20€ in this category for special occasions, getting late to an exam or getting trapped under 3 meter snow.
  I will try to rent a room near the University and near the city center so I can walk to all places I will need to go.
• Miscellaneous: Shampoo, toothpaste and beer from time to time will fit into this category.
• +10%: Unforeseen costs would fall into this category.

That makes a total of €651.

Personal project start date: 15th April

The actual project will start on the 15th April 2010, until then and until I can start making some money in Munich I will stretch my savings as much as I can (€1400). That will reach to pay the University fee (€600) and to make it until mid May.

Next Step: Where can I sell my skills?

Best regards,
Javier

Tags: finance survival, personal finance

Hi all!

Today is a good day. I received the confirmation letter from LMU – University of Munich that from April on I can start my studies of economics in their University. From April on I’ll be a student again.

This opportunity comes along with a big challenge:
- How to make money to live while studying (3 years long)?

First thing to be said is that I could sell the shares I have right now and live without working and worrying about money for the next 3 years, but that would be a really short-term decision, in 3 years I’m pretty confident that the shares will be worth more and will have paid some nice dividends. So back to the question!

How to make money while being a student?

As a student I won’t have time to take a full-time job, so the idea is to monetize my skills or to do “small business transactions” (don’t worry, nothing illegal).

Some ideas I have in mind:

- correcting and helping German students with Spanish papers: I just posted some ads selling my Spanish skills in the Spanish faculty – initial price 3€ per page.
- mistery shoppers and different tests: I just signed up for a “usability test” next week. They pay 27,30€ for an hour. I just have to sit there and surf the net for an hour. Cool!
- training a football(soccer) team: I will have to wait until beginnings of July for this one, we are in mid-season and to get a team as a newbie in the city would be mission impossible.
- playing football(soccer): In Germany you get paid for playing football, also in the low divisions. I started training with a team and as soon as I fully recover from my ACL operation I’ll start playing. I will also ask if they need some trainer/coach for any team.
- selling what people don’t want: you wouldn’t believe what people give away (furnitures, ovens, kitchens, books, TV’s), I’m being serious people give these things away!! I will check out regularly what people are giving away and sell the stuff that can be sold.

And so far, that’s all! I’ve just had half a day to come up with ideas to financially survive, but I’m sure more ideas will come up and be sure I’ll post them.

Why do I do this?

You may be asking yourself this question. You can find below the reasons:
- because it’s fun, creative and more exciting than working for someone else from 9 to 5.
- to show myself and to prove that the rule “no job, no income” is there to be broken.
- because necessity gets the best out of us.

Best regards and see you soon!
Javier

Tags: finance survival, personal finance