EPISODE 34 ~ MAKE MORE: Egg Donation: Earn Thousands While Helping Others Start A Family

Today, we’re going to talk about making money by making a life. Way back on Episode 2, we talked about being a surrogate mother. Today, I want to cover becoming an egg donor, which is less involved because you don’t have to carry a child, but more involved because you’re contributing your own DNA. My guest is named Candace, and she has donated her eggs 5 times resulting in the birth of 6 children.

YOU FIRST DONATED EGGS WHEN YOU WERE IN COLLEGE.  I THINK WE’VE ALL HEARD THAT THIS IS POSSIBLE, BUT HARDLY ANYBODY HAS EVER DONE IT. WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO GET INVOLVED?

I initially became interested in this while I was working at an IVF clinic. I’m not sure if I wasn’t working there if I would have otherwise been exposed to this. I was finishing my college degree and bartending to get through college and they had a receptionist job open at clinic so I got in and fell in love with the field and then decided to donate my eggs to research initially. I did not get paid for that. The research was for a cure for gestational diabetes and I wanted to be helpful since my Dad has type 2 and there were benefits for genetic testing free of charge so I could make sure I didn’t have any abnormalities.

YOU THEN WAITED A FEW YEARS BEFORE DONATING EGGS TO ACTUAL COUPLES WHO WANTED TO CONCEIVE.  WHAT IS THE PROCESS LIKE?

I was 26 when I donated to a family for the first time. My last time was when I was 31. There is a matching process. Sort of like a dating website. Couples see the profiles. I fill out my profile, add pics and a couple finds someone who fits their background. Then agency tells me a couple is interested and I can read and decide whether to donate.

You go through an IVF cycle. Inject with medicine to try and develop more follicles then would in your normal  cycle. Produce more eggs than you normally would. My first donation I had over 60 follicles. Normally you’d see single digits. Turns out I was a really good donor.  After egg retrieval they have to fertilize to see how many embryos. Then tell you when transfer into surrogate or parents. All of mine took.

SO THE BABIES THAT ARE BORN HAVE YOUR DNA.  DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF AS THEIR MOTHER, OR WHAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP?

Because I don’t have kids as my own, I look at them as my nieces or nephews. I’m not their parent but it is my DNA. For me it is very easy to make that emotional separation. I haven’t met any donors who seem to find it hard. A lot of my girlfriends did it.  I don’t feel any motherly connection to the children.

ARE YOU IN TOUCH WITH THE PARENTS YOU DONATED TO AND THE CHILDREN WHO ARE REALLY HALF YOU?

It is preferred to generally be anonymous but I was open to knowing couples too. That is more rare to have the open situation.  It’s pretty exciting, especially the two I knew. I really wanted them to have a positive pregnancy. Two weeks after the baby in France was born, they drove here and I got to meet him two weeks after. Ever since then we go meet each other. I go there or they meet here. We had a huge family BBQ. I have 17 nieces and nephews, five siblings and everyone got to meet.

AND DO THE CHILDREN UNDERSTAND WHO YOU ARE TO THEM?

I Skype the boy and he asks who I am.  He is 3. He still really doesn’t get it. We Skyped on his birthday and he asked who is she and why is she calling. They explained I was part of helping make him and I think each year it will grow into more detail. To me it is super special. I am happier with my open donations and knowing the children. It is peace of mind to know they are doing well and have a good family life.

WE KNOW HOW YOU ENHANCED THE COUPLES’ LIVES WHO WANTED CHILDREN.  BUT HOW DID THIS AFFECT YOUR OWN LIFE?  DID THE MONEY YOU EARNED MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

The money helped me get through school and not kill myself bartending and getting up at 7am for my first class. Gave me more flexibility to focus on school and not just trying to life. Then I put it into savings and that was huge for me. And now I was able to go and finish my Masters. Got me thru Bachelors and get me to my Masters. Was huge for me.

One of my girlfriend’s had $20,000 credit card debt and it helped her pay that off and then be able to buy a house. Win/win. Giving someone something who has a huge desire for so long. A lot of couples have gone through heartache. You can help them and help yourself.

ALRIGHT, THE QUESTION EVERYBODY’S BEEN WAITING FOR ME TO ASK: HOW MUCH MONEY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? On your first donation you make about $6,000. That helped trying to get through college. Each consecutive time after that you go up about $1,000 if you are proven donor. Made about $10,000 with the last one.

THAT’S CERTAINLY TEMPTING.  CAN ANY WOMAN DO THIS?

Nobody can just do it. You have to do psych evals and be healthy and the right weight. You want to be at your peak health. You have to go through interviews and take a test to make sure I am emotionally stable.  Not easy. Can be time consuming and you do have to take time off. At the mercy of the cycle itself so you have to be flexible. You are injecting yourself with medication.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR WOMEN WHO ARE OPEN TO BECOMING EGG DONORS?

I would definitely have the right people. Important to have someone who understands process so go thru agency or clinic. Lots of unknowns. Legal aspects. Medical aspects. Need someone to help mediate.

Candace, thank you for being my guest on Easy Money. And folks, Candace treasured this process so much that she now works for extraordinary conceptions, a firm that helps match egg donors with prospective parents. She’s provided the firm’s detailed list of requirements for becoming an egg donor, so you’ll know more about what it takes. You can find that list as well as this week’s guest blog post at easymoneyshow.com/34.

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EPISODE 33 ~ MAKE MORE: Cash For College: 5 Ways To Make Extra Money to Pay Tuition

I want to talk about clever, creative ways to make more money for college.

1.  My first idea: Cooperative Education

Cooperative education, also called co-op education, involves working full time at a company while also enrolled in college. Students can earn as much as $25 per hour (That’s roughly $50k a year).  Colleges that offer Co-op education include Purdue, Cornell, University of CIncinatti and Northeastern U in Boston.

2.  Second idea: paid internships:

More companies are paying because Federal and state departments of labor, as well as prominent plaintiffs’ law firms, are getting aggressive in this area. They sue when an internship is really just unpaid work and more and more companies are deciding to pay rather than risk it.

3.  Number 3: Employer reimbursement programs

Today, there are tons of different employers that will pay for all or part of your tuition, including: Chipotle, Starbucks and Chrysler.

all recently announced expansions of, or additions to, their tuition reimbursement programs.

Number 4: Cool on-campus jobs.

You could…

•Play in the pep band.

Yes, that’s often a paying gig!

•Be a Newspaper writer or editor.

Not every college has a newspaper that pays its writers, but plenty do,

•Teach a Fitness Class.

Your college’s campus gym probably offers group fitness classes and somebody has to teach them.

•Work as an Event Caterer

Most colleges and universities have their own catering company.  I did this myself.

Do Tech Support:

Colleges have LOTS of computers and the pay for this one is usually high.

Bank Teller at the campus credit union.  Typical pay: $18/hour.

Hospital Research Assistant or Lab Assistant.  $10-20/hour.

5.  And final idea to snag money for college:

Many people don’t realize that you can apply for scholarships ALL 4 YEARS.  You can and you should. 

I hope these ideas to make money for college are helpful and on next week’s podcast I will share ways to SAVE money on your college tuition.

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EPISODE 32 ~ MAKE MORE: Gift Card Exchange: 5 Ways To Make The Most Out Of Your Unwanted Gift Cards This Holiday Season

If you received gift cards this holiday season to stores that just aren’t your thing, they don’t have to sit unused in a drawer.  You can sell them, exchange them, swap them, donate them and more.  Let’s take those in turn:

  1. Sell it.  There are two main websites where you can sell gift cards and they have different business models.  First is cardpool.com, which will buy your gift cards from you on the spot.  The site typically pays 75 to 90 percent of the gift card’s value.  The more popular the store, the higher the payout.  Cardpool even has physical locations, often in grocery stores, if you want your cash fast.  The other site is called Raise and its more of a marketplace for you to sell your gift card to other consumers.  You’ll have to prove your gift card is legit by entering the serial number and other information, but then you can set your own price and see how you do.  Raise takes a 12 percent commission when your gift card sells.  I will link you to both of these sites from easymoneyshow.com/32.
  1. Exchange it. This is a Target offering.  The mega-chain would like you to spend your money at ITS stores instead of somewhere else, so Target allows you to trade in gift cards at most of its stores.  I’ll link you to Target’s list of stores it will accept gift cards from.  You’ll receive a portion of the gift card’s value on, you guessed it, a gift card —but it will be a Target gift card.
  1. Swap it. Organize a swap at your office, your kid’s school or in your neighborhood.  This way you can get the face value of your gift card, if a neighbor is willing to swap or pay for it. 

4)  Donate it.  Yes!  Tons of charities accept gift cards.  And you can get the tac deduction.  Just ask your favorite charity if it does this. If not, CharityGiftCertificates.org has more than a thousand non profit organizations to choose from.  OR, another idea, use the gift card to buy items that charities need! 

5)   FInal idea: Buy gifts with it.  Don’t shoot the messenger.  Even high flying etiquette experts say this is OK.  AND, think of this: the person who bought you this gift card obviously likes this store.  Wait a while and then buy them a gift from the store!

If you received gift cards this holiday season to stores that just aren’t your thing, they don’t have to sit unused in a drawer.  You can sell them, exchange them, swap them, donate them and more.  Let’s take those in turn:

  1. Sell it.  There are two main websites where you can sell gift cards and they have different business models.  First is cardpool.com, which will buy your gift cards from you on the spot.  The site typically pays 75 to 90 percent of the gift card’s value.  The more popular the store, the higher the payout.  Cardpool even has physical locations, often in grocery stores, if you want your cash fast.  The other site is called Raise and its more of a marketplace for you to sell your gift card to other consumers.  You’ll have to prove your gift card is legit by entering the serial number and other information, but then you can set your own price and see how you do.  Raise takes a 12 percent commission when your gift card sells.  I will link you to both of these sites from easymoneyshow.com/32.
  1. Exchange it. This is a Target offering.  The mega-chain would like you to spend your money at ITS stores instead of somewhere else, so Target allows you to trade in gift cards at most of its stores.  I’ll link you to Target’s list of stores it will accept gift cards from.  You’ll receive a portion of the gift card’s value on, you guessed it, a gift card —but it will be a Target gift card.
  1. Swap it. Organize a swap at your office, your kid’s school or in your neighborhood.  This way you can get the face value of your gift card, if a neighbor is willing to swap or pay for it. 

4)  Donate it.  Yes!  Tons of charities accept gift cards.  And you can get the tac deduction.  Just ask your favorite charity if it does this. If not, CharityGiftCertificates.org has more than a thousand non profit organizations to choose from.  OR, another idea, use the gift card to buy items that charities need! 

5)   FInal idea: Buy gifts with it.  Don’t shoot the messenger.  Even high flying etiquette experts say this is OK.  AND, think of this: the person who bought you this gift card obviously likes this store.  Wait a while and then buy them a gift from the store!

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EPISODE 31 ~ MAKE MORE: Side Hustles: Why Teaching a Fitness Class is the Perfect Extra Gig

This week’s idea is to teach an exercise class on the side to make some extra money.

Here are my 12 reasons why teaching an exercise class should be your next side hustle.

  1. You ought to exercise anyway, so why not get paid to do it?
  2. You’ll be more likely to STICK WITH your exercise routine if other people are counting on you.
  3. And you’ll exercises harder because people are watching!
  4. Being a certified instructor in yoga or indoor cycling or pilates —or whatever— looks cool on your REAL resume because it shows you’re a real person.
  5. As a professional fitness instructor, you’ll be eligible for discounts of 15 to 40 percent at 18 different  athletic apparel brands.
  6. The hours are good for a side hustle.  Other people want to take exercise classes before or after work, so you can teach one before or after work.
  7. You’ll be a better singer.  YES, the breath control required to talk while you sweat it out, develops your lung strength.  Really!
  8. Speaking of music, you’ll learn and listen to great tunes, since most exercise classes these days require a playlist.
  9. You may well lose weight while you’re making money!
  10.   Instead of paying to take the class, you’ll GET paid to TEACH the class.
  11. And that pay should range from 20 to 50 dollars an hour if you work at a gym.
  12. And finally, reason number 12: if you get good, you could sell your own classes somewhere like a community rec center, and charge by the head to make even more money.  10 people at $10 bucks a class is $100 an hour! 
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EPISODE 30 ~ MAKE MORE: Reward Cards: Use The Birch Finance App For Benefits Of Reward Credit Cards

One way to earn some extra cash or free stuff is by using a rewards credit card.   BUT the diabolical problem is knowing which rewards credit card will benefit you the most.  There are so many options and variables it’s hard for the human brain to compute the best deal.  Enter an ingenious app called “Birch Finance” which does the work for you.  My guest today is Birch Co-founder Alex Cohen.

How much money are people leaving on the table by not taking advantage of rewards credit cards?

The average person misses out on hundreds of dollars in rewards each year by using the wrong cards. Cue Birch Finance, the only app of its kind to help credit card users maximize their rewards earnings.  It varies for everyone. Take someone that only uses debit cards, for example. On average they miss out on $600-$800 a year in rewards because they’re essentially using cash on every purchase. But for folks that have a card or two already, we typically see them missing out on $200 each year with the cards they already have and around $600 by not using a better card for their spending.

Explain what you mean when you say we analyze “the way you spend.”

So when we think of a rewards credit card, the biggest factors are:

• Sign on bonuses

• Category bonuses (2x on gas)

• Merchant bonuses (earn a bonus when you shop on Amazon)

Every card is different (hence why it’s so difficult to figure out which card is best) and Ignoring all the terms and conditions (and there are a lot) the only way to know which card is right for you is by comparing our actual spend against these cards. It’s almost as if we can show you what your spending WOULD have been had you had used a different card on real purchases.

How do you get the customer’s spending profile in order to figure out their patterns? 

Users log in with their bank credentials so that Birch can link to their accounts. There are no card or account numbers required. Birch creates a secure connection with each of your banks and syncs your transactions across all accounts.

One key piece is that we never store usernames and passwords. They’re passed to the banks and then we chat using a token.

OK, so once a Birch customer has 2-3 of the best credit cards for THEM in their wallet, you also tell them WHICH of those to use at a given store.  How does that work?

Using geolocation, Birch alerts you to which card in your wallet to use when you walk into a store.  In our iOS app (android coming soon), a user can tap on the “compass” icon in the middle of the navigation bar, and using their location in real time, we show nearby stores and the best card to use. If you can’t find the store you can search. One day we’d love to do this using push notifications but we also don’t want to annoy our users if they aren’t actually shopping 🙂

The Birch App is free.  So I think it’s important for people to understand how Birch makes its money.

We make money when someone applies for a credit card. It doesn’t impact any placements or recommendations and most cards we don’t have relationships with. Even if we don’t get paid, we’ll still show a card if it’s best for our users. All we ask is that you apply through us so we can continue building awesome products!

How long has Birch been around and how much money do you calculate you’ve made for your customers so far?

We’ve been around for two years with our first product going live in November of 2016, so a year ago. We’ve probably helped people earn around $10,000,000 worth of extra rewards!

Alex provided a guest blog post naming his expert picks for the best apps to save you money this holiday season.    That’s available at EasyMoneyShow.com/30.

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EPISODE 28 ~ MAKE MORE: Cashback: Check Out These Online Reward Sites That Help You Get Cash Back

I’ve done the math and I estimate you can earn hundreds of dollars worth of free gift cards —for the holidays or any time of year— just by doing the things you already do online and on your phone, only doing them via a rewards site.  But you don’t have to take my word for it.  I’ve heard from people who did exactly this last year and got all of their holiday gifts for free.  How?   They used the reward site’s browser to do their web surfing and shopping, they took surveys and watched videos, and they shopped at the site’s retail partners.  Then, they were rewarded with free gift cards to quality retailers we all love.

I know it may sound too good to be true, but I’m a 25-year consumer reporter and I would not lead you astray.  One of these reward sites, called Swagbucks, has paid out more than a hundred million dollars in cash and free gift cards to its members —so far.  These points definitely add up.  Swagbucks is the one I’m most familiar with, but other reward sites include eBates, Extrabux, Ibotta and MyPoints.  And there are more out there as well.

One way to use reward sites is to access shopping sites through them and snag additional discounts and points available only to their members.

BUT you don’t always have to spend money to make money on reward sites.  On some you do, but let’s use Swagbucks as an example again.  You can earn money on Swagbucks by taking surveys, entering sweepstakes, watching videos and also by surfing the web using the Swagbucks browser.

If you like to shop and surf online, check out reward sites and see if you can scoop up some free money.

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EPISODE 27 ~ MAKE MORE: Freelance Writing: Use Your Words As A Side Hustle Or Permanent Job

This time we’re talking about being a freelance writer.  This can be a profitable and satisfying full-time job or side hustle.  And just think of all of the companies that need things written, from blog posts to articles, grants to technical manuals.  My guest is Charles Silberman, a teacher by day and writer by night.

You’re really entrepreneurial and have also created some online courses.  THat’s a bonus we’ll get into later.  But first, tell us about your day job to set the scene.

I’m a PE teacher in Maryland.  I teach physical education in Montgomery County Maryland.  I teach ages 3 – 12.  I like it because I can make a lasting, positive impact on the lives of youth at a foundational level.  I wanted to branch out because I love writing, had been doing it for my profession for free for some time, and I knew I wanted to monetize it because being a teacher does not pay that great and comes with debt. 

Why did you choose writing as your side hustle?

It’s easy for me because I can sit down and right a high quality piece in a short period of time.  For me it’s easy. If you do something you truly love and have a passion for it will be easy to do the work. The hard part if you don’t know how to be an entrepreneur. While it has been easy to make the money, it’s not a get rich quick scheme. If you have expectations that you will make money on the very first day, it’s not like that.

Have you always been a good writer?

No!  I went from being diagnosed dyslexic in high school —I am not- my writing was that bad— to remedial writing classes and one-on-one help doing basic worksheets on things like subject-verb agreement to where I am now.  I overcame great personal odds in my youth that I was lucky to turn into something I am now doing well at.  As a famous song says, “Teach The Children Well.” Give them something they can grow by or something to that effect. But, obstacles are not to be seen as a moat that can not be crossed either.  I want to inspire people, I guess is what I am saying.

Some of your writing projects have been in line with your training as a teacher.  Was that synchronicity nice?

•I contribute to a blog for international PE equipment company. It’s amazing.

•An app company needed 50 reviews of educational apps. I used each app and wrote a detailed review for it. They put those 50 reviews in their app so that the reviews I wrote showed up on educational apps with my name on the byline. It was an exciting moment.

There is a variety of writing work available.  One of our steadiest writing jobs is for a criminal lawyer.  What do you do for him?

My first long-term client, who still remains faithful, is a criminal lawyer. I have done pages upon pages of content for him. Many were on topics I knew nothing about like forensic science and ballistics, which forced me to grow. What was interesting was that the first set of articles had to do with car accidents, and I had been in a significant accident, so I was able to write from a very personal level.

You have even gotten paid to write poetry, right?

My first favorite project was for a person who wanted to start a poetry site that I helped write poetry for.  I cannot count how many I have written, but I enjoy it so much.

And writing for clients on Fiverr lead to other things, right?

I am doing great now, but the confidence I gained going through this process, and the things I have taken risks to do are tremendous because of small success along the way early on and with the help of a mentor.  In addition, much of what I have learned, I have been able to apply right back to my field, including using the platform that helped me get started – Fiverr and what I earn there – to fund many projects that are related to my work.  I have turned that into a now growing platform of things. I’ve created 4 online courses.  And I have an online store as well as my presentations and greater projects coming in the pipeline. Things I get paid for! Things snowball, and where you start is not where you finish. 

I guess even your online courses involve writing?  How did you create them?  And how do you market them?

I wrote the majority of the content for 4 online courses that I created.  They are going really well.  I just presented at a big (400) person PE conference on two topics that relate to my course. And because of my presenting at this conference, I am helping create an activity pack where I was given free equipment, and am working on a 25-page document for this company to create activities using that equipment.  And if it all works out, I could get a share of sales of that.  I’ve now got two websites that bring in revenue too.  writeguy4us.com and newphysicaleducator.com.

What has the extra money meant to you and your life?

I am single. As a teacher it has given me extra money to save. To not feel like I am living paycheck to paycheck. Helped me with student loans. Helped me get new car when I was in an accident. Helped me do fun things I wanted to do. It’s amazing. My summers have never been so enjoyable. Don’t have to do summer camp. Can travel, see family and really enjoy myself while writing.

And now, the big question I always ask: What kind of money have you been able to make through your writing?

I had been working part time at a rec center making $300-$400 month for 20 hours. I came on Fiver in 2015 and in the same 20 hours made $800.  That was just the beginning.  Now I average between $25 and $30/hour.

Congrats!  What do other people need to know if they want to make money writing like you do?

• Find a mentor. Someone who knows how to do what you are trying to do.

  • You have to have a plan and know exactly what you are trying to sell or create.
  • And finally, know your prices and how much time you want to give to something for that price.

Charles has written a guest blog post about different kinds of writing work AND he has created a video that explains more about how he is juggling multiple side gigs and how you can too.  That will ALL be available at EasyMoneyShow.com/27.

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