Make Money By Letting Scientists Experiment On You

By MoneyBlueBook

During graduate school I roomed with a medical student, who's still a good friend of mine. Although he and all of his medical friends studied hard, they also partied hard - very hard. They were quite the rowdy bunch. Together with his medical and dental friends from other neighboring prestigious schools, they consumed alcohol and other things like you wouldn't believe. Although I could probably go on for days about the many weird things that happened in our apartment, the thing I wanted to talk about was one of the things he used to do for money (no he wasn't a drug dealer, if that's what you're thinking).

Make Money By Being a Human Guinea Pig

What my roommate used to do was answer advertisements in the newspaper or respond to requests through his medical school for open call patients who were interested in participating as subjects in scientific studies. The scientific studies he submitted himself for were for substance abuse related clinical research projects. His qualification for the studies involved his chronic prior and current usage of alcohol and illicit substances (party drug variety). The studies were always confidential and he was paid quite handsomely for his time. I think he agreed to be a paid guinea pig because he needed the extra money for further boozing.

Frequently this involved him showing up at the research center for a few hours at a time and allowing the researchers to put him through a series of mental and physical tests. Now you might be thinking, easy money

By MoneyBlueBook

I debated about whether I should share this story, but at the end I decided that my experience might help prevent someone from falling into the same scam as I did. At the time I was young, inexperienced and financially naive. Since then, I've learned and improved based on my past failures and eventually went on to run a small but profitable home business by making money online with ebay, at least for a modest period of time.

It All Started With Too Much Greed

Shortly after college I decided I wanted to start a part time side business selling merchandise on eBay. But first I needed to find a wholesale supplier. After some research I decided I wanted to focus on consumer electronics such as GPS navigation devices and Apple iPods, and concluded my best bet at finding a supplier would be through a free network site like Alibaba, that helps connect sellers with buyers of goods. Little did I know at the time, but sites like Alibaba are crawling with scammers and evil doers.

I ultimately decided to focus on selling Garmin and Tom Tom branded GPS units. After a few searches, I was amazed to find numerous sellers offering brand new Garmin GPS units for very little money. The Garmin GPS model I was interested in buying in bulk retailed for more than $1200 on eBay at the time. The sellers I found on Alibaba were offering each unit for only $700 each. The asking prices were exceedingly low,

By MoneyBlueBook

I enjoy reading and following the personal financial journeys of individuals. It's the individual that puts the "personal" in personal finance and makes the subjects of money and investing so human and genuine. There is no denying that money is a very essential and pervasive element of our lives. Some people just don't have enough. For others, money is sufficient but the difficulty comes when deciding how to best protect and manage it. Lack of money can cause people to fall into debt, while at the same time it can be the liberating savior to some of life's problems.

CNN's Family Profiles

One of my favorite reads is CNN's Millionaires in the Making series. Every few weeks they provide the profile of a new family or couple, complete with all pertinent and interesting demographic information such as their individual ages, occupations, salaries, and a complete listing of their financial assets and liabilities. The articles even provide a picture of the family or couple being profiled that also frequently includes them with their children.

Maybe I have a natural voyeuristic fascination, but I like to read their profiles and see how I match up. I must commend the couples and families for being so willing to provide their photos and reveal so much personal information about their finances that most people, including myself would normally be sort of reluctant to provide in its complete entirety. Although most personal finance bloggers like to include profile snapshots of their financial situation, many are reluctant to provide photos

By MoneyBlueBook

Zero percent and low intro APR balance transfer cards are a particular selection of credit cards that I've had a lot of exposure and experience with. I've used them for everything from temporary financial emergencies to balance transfer arbitrage purposes. During times when I needed a temporary source of cash, I've applied for 12 month 0% introductory APR credit card offers and requested balance transfer checks. For the duration of the promotional period I would have the needed money to tie me over. Of course I always paid the balance back in full after the introductory period ended.

Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm looking to get back to making some extra money by doing App-O-Rama balance transfers. The process works by submitting new card applications from a select list of balance transfer cards that offer introductory 0% APR. The transferred balance is then deposited into a high yield savings account to earn free interest for the duration of the balance transfer period. When it's over, you pull the money out, repay the credit card and pocket the interest profit. The amount of arbitrage income you can earn depends on how many credit cards you apply for, the total credit limit, the duration of the no interest promotional period, and whether there are any one time balance transfer fees. People looking to make money from balance transfers usually apply for a high number of 0% offers at one time

By MoneyBlueBook

As I mentioned in previous posts, one of my hobbies when I have downtime at work or home is filling out online paid online surveys and getting paid for it. One of the welcomed perks of doing these surveys is that you occasionally receive free products to review. So far I've received a few large bottles of shampoo and a couple of other personal items (very personal items I must add) to try out and review.

It's actually quite interesting and I enjoy receiving free stuff. I don't mind being a guinea pig for these companies. It's not like the products are toxic or potentially hazardous. Some of them, like the shampoos, are pretty much what you use at home anyway except they might be packaged differently or the texture of the shampoo might be different. But it's certainly interesting to be able to voice my opinion on products that haven't been released to the general public. I haven't received any electronic merchandise to review yet but I'm hoping to get the chance eventually.

Tips To Get the Most Survey Opportunities

Product reviews don't come too frequently, but the best way to maximize your opportunities and rewards in general is to do the following:

By MoneyBlueBook

After spending some time on the sidelines, I think it's time for me to get back into the whole 0% balance transfer game, also known in some circles as the App-O-Rama (insert ominous lightning and thunder crack). 8O

The App-O-Rama Game - What Is It?

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, the App-O-Rama (more formally known as credit card arbitrage or balance transfer arbitrage) is a way to generate money through the calculated use of interest free credit card balance transfers. The process operates by you opening numerous credit cards that offer special introductory 0% APR balance transfer rates. The introductory period is often up to a year long, during which time you deposit the balance transfer funds into a high yield savings bank account. Essentially you are making money from borrowed money for an extended period of time. At the end of the introductory period, you promptly pay everything back in full and you pocket the savings interest as profit.

The process requires prior preparation and may be difficult for some people to automate and pull off without a hitch. Participation is certain to negatively affect your credit score in the short term and there are also many hidden dangers as well so it's certainly not suitable for some people. It is definitely not recommended for those people who need to maintain excellent credit because they are planning on buying a new house or car in the next 12 months. It is also not recommended for those who are disorganized or