My life as an entrepreneur is so chaotic and eventful. Just two days ago, my laptop overheated and shut down by itself. I'm not going to lie, my laptop (a Dell Vostro 1015) is very old. She's my baby and I've had her since about 2011 or 12. She's very durable and I've upgraded her hard drive and software twice and she's never given me problems. You know how the old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. With that being said, unless you've been living under a rock, you had to notice that the east coast and the Midwest has been experiencing a severe heatwave these last two weeks. I bought an external fan that actually worked great for about three years, but under this heat, even SHE couldn't handle the pressure.
Both of my babies gave up. Since I earn half of my income on the Internet, this situation really stressed me out (on top of the irritation from the extreme heat). Being the hustler that I am though, I would not let this setback deter me. This situation required me to reach deep down in my bag of tricks because being an entrepreneur means constantly having to work without cash on hand. I needed another fan for my laptop as well as a wall charger for my hubby's laptop (hopefully a backup for my girl if I need it in the future). So with that being said, this is how I pulled off these two purchases with no cash:
The first place I looked was on my Sand Box account. This program is an extension of the Smart Panel app and gives you the opportunity to earn extra rewards for installing their extension (900 points per month) and doing small surveys. Most surveys pay out 200 points and require no thinking at all...LoL! The points build up fast on this one, so I looked here first. Lo and behold, I had enough points to cash out for two Amazon gift cards for a total of $20. The fan I want costs $21.99 and the cord is $9.89. I still need roughly ten bucks.
The second place I looked was my Mypoints account. I did two big shopping trips using this website last month, so I know I earned around 800 points. With the points I already had in my account (around 800 I think) I had enough to cash out the $10 gift card I needed.
I use a plethora of websites and apps that I use to keep a steady stream of income and gift cards to get the things I need for my household without the need for cash. I find that if you use these apps and websites on a consistent basis, you will always have enough cash or gift cards to cover emergency situations. I've been doing this for about ten years (at least) and these apps have been a God send to me, my family, and my business. You should check them out. I will do more posts highlighting other websites and apps that I use, so stay tuned!
***If you're interested, here's the link to the fan that I ordered on Amazon. Although it's not from the same company as my first fan was, it's the exact same make and model as the one I already have.
