Welcome to the “Make Money, Save Money” Newsletter.
5 years ago, I bought a second hand MacBook Pro which was 18 months old, however, it wasn’t without its problems.
If you stressed the graphics card (think playing games), the computer would crash. I was told the only way to solve this issue was to force the fans to run at full speed!
I could not accept that a merely 18-month-old computer should have a hardware fault. By now you should know me, I wouldn’t settle for substandard hardware.
Read more to find out more.
Make Money
Write Articles
Are you a bit of a wordsmith?
You could start a blog, but that will take some time to establish.
What if you wanted money sooner than that?
Services like the these will help connect you with people wanting content. You will have to be comfortable working to a client brief.
If you are good at writing, then you have the potential to make a good second income.
Odd Jobs
Doing odd jobs for less capable or busy people could be your next big thing.
- Household jobs: Cleaning, Vacuuming, Ironing, Washing.
- Garden jobs: Tidying, Cutting Grass, Weeding.
There are loads of possibilities.
Man with a Van
Some people will inevitably struggle moving large bulky items, because they have a small car, or maybe no vehicle at all.
They might need help moving something they’ve bought or taking something to the “Household Waste Recycling Centre”.
Remember not everyone is capable of driving.
Important note: You will need to look into “Public Liability”, “Goods in Transit Insurance” and “Hire and Reward Insurance”.
Save Money
NUS Discount Card
There are loads of discounts on offer for students nowadays.
What if I could tell you there is a way to get an NUS card without having to spend thousands on an education?
There is an online e-learning company called E-Careers, which offers reasonably priced courses that you can study at home, for around a few hundred pounds.
Once you’ve bought a course, you qualify as a student and you can proceed to sign up for an NUS card, which will be valid for 1 to 3 years (depending on how long you buy it for at checkout).
Wouldn’t it be better to not have to spend hundreds of pounds?
Read more to find out more.
Buy Apple Care from 3rd Party
If you’ve already bought your apple computer and it is still less than a year old, then you will save money by buying AppleCare from eBay.
There is a risk buying from eBay, but if you buy from someone that is reputable and pay using PayPal, then you should be covered if things go wrong.
When you are ready to buy, double check that you are buying the correct cover (ask the seller if there is any doubt). The seller is extremely unlikely to want to refund you if you make a mistake, as what you are buying is a code to activate AppleCare, so they will worry you are “trying it on”.
You then enter the code into Apple’s website, which will be accepted if valid.
When I did this previously, I managed to enter the code incorrectly the first time, so double check your code was entered correctly if it doesn’t work the first time, before contacting the seller to complain.
| Product | Apple | eBay (But it Now) |
|---|---|---|
| Mac Mini | £69 | £37 – £40 |
| Apple TV | £26 | £19 – £23 |
| iMac | £139 | £70 – £95 |
| MacBook | £199 | £160 |
| MacBook Air | £199 | £160 |
| 13″ MacBook Pro | £199 | £160 |
| 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina display | £199 | £160 |
| 15″ MacBook Pro | £279 | £215 |
| 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina display | £279 | £220 |
| Mac Pro | £199 | £90 – £95 |
Source: Apple and eBay. Prices were correct September 2016.
Keep track of your warranties
Do you find your products have broken, only to find that when you get around to claiming on the warranty, that it’s expired?
When you buy your new shiny toy, whether it’s a car, tv or a house, make a record of when you bought it and when the warranty will expire (yes, even new houses have warranties!) and create an alert set for about a month before the end of the warranty period.
If you don’t have a favourite calendar, then I’d recommend Google Calendar, or using the calendar or reminder app on your favourite iPhone or Android device.
When your alert goes off, you can check the relevant product carefully for potential reasons to claim on the warranty.
Now you shouldn’t lose out by missing the deadline.
These suggestions won’t be applicable to everyone, but try to work out how they could be adapted for you.
Hopefully, these suggestions give you money ideas!
That’s it for this newsletter. See you next time!
If you have any suggestions or questions then drop me a reply to this email.