Meet Eric of Average Joe Arbitrage

Eric J. Wynn is a professional traveler; he spends an average of 350 days per year traveling and has developed and learned a number of techniques for travel hacking, credit hacking, and earning extra money. He created a website called Average Joe Arbitrage to share his travel arbitrage tips and other ideas for readers who want to save and make money.

To get an idea of his writing and the tips he shares, check out these recent articles on the benefits of brand loyalty and how to make the most of store specials to make money rather than spending it.

1. How did you choose the name of your site, Average Joe Arbitrage? Also, for readers unfamiliar with the word, what does "arbitrage" mean?

I consider myself just an average person, who lives a rather unusual life. And I wanted to share what I have learned at making extra money and living a better life with average people. Arbitrage is the knack or art of finding something valued at X dollars but knowing you can sell it for Y dollars. And, then capitalizing on that trade.

2. As someone who travels for much of the year, where do you most like to spend your time?

I normally spend about 90 days in one spot; then I pack and move up to another spot. It is a very nomadic lifestyle. But, I am fascinated with seeing America. Every location has its uniqueness; Boston has its museums; Nebraska has its prairies. Every location in America is unique and has something fascinating about it. But, my heart is with the beach, and I truly relish my time along the beaches, listening to the sound of the waves, the cry of the gulls, and the smell of salt air.

3. What are some of your favorite ways to make (and save) money, and how do you keep your business operations easily portable to accommodate your traveling?

I make money in numerous ways. I do a lot of secret shopping; I seek out arbitrage opportunities with retailers, and I take advantage of pricing anomalies that they have. For saving money, I always buy with coupons. I never want to pay retail. My favorite way method of couponing right now is using the shopping app Ibotta which is available in the Apple App store. It is the easiest fastest way I have found to get rebates. On a side note, if you download the Ibotta app, and use my referral code, qffkbsh, you will get a $10.00 welcome bonus. My gift to you...

4. Why is it important for people to utilize multiple ways of making/saving money, rather than just focusing on one specific hack or project?

We live in an economy in which is going to get harder and harder for people to make ends meet. By developing multiple income streams, people can better absorb these difficulties and in turn live a better life for their themselves and their families.

5. Can you share some of your all-time favorite deals you've found--and what are your tips for readers who want to find great deals, too?

Last Christmas, a retailer offered a $10 discount, for every hundred dollars in gift cards purchased. That is a 10% savings right there. Better than any savings account and I purchased 15 of these gift cards. But, the week before Christmas, the retailer adjusted the sale, and I was able to purchase $500.00 gift cards for $450.00. I purchased 20 of these gifts cards. I grossed $1,150.00 for my Christmas shopping! I think people should know how to find these deals, and I am just interested in sharing my techniques. The secret to this is reading my blog and keeping an eye open for these unique deals. If you scroll through my blog, I post a copy of the ad the retailer posted. It was no secret; millions of people saw it. But, how many took advantage of it?

Thanks, Eric!

Meet Michelle, Blogger at What Matters to Mommy

Michelle is the founder of What Matters To Mommy, blog which focuses on issues and concerns that affect moms everywhere, with the particular goals of helping readers save time and money.

Writing from her own experience developing new sources of income, Michelle shares her "cash flow summaries" every month, to show how she is making money from home and to inspire readers who want to find their own ways to spend more time with their families by transitioning to working from home.

1. When did you first start making side income by working from home?

I've tried a lot of things to make side income from home, but my first real successful project was my laundry business that I started in June 2015.

2. Why did you decide to share your experiences through your What Matters to Mommy blog?

I'm always researching ways to make my dreams come true. I read quite a few other blogs before I even realized what a blog was. I was trying to find a way to stay home with my kids and still support my family. One day it occurred to me that I couldn't be the only one on the planet who wanted freedom from the 9 to 5, and I became determined to find that freedom and to share my journey with anyone else who was looking. Thus, What Matters To Mommy as born. :)

3. What are some of the side gigs that you most enjoy?

I love the puzzle of building my website. I enjoy the excitement of trying something I've never tried before and getting a great final product. I guess that probably comes from my background as a science major. My blog is an experiment. :)

I also get super motivated when I get feedback from my readers that they tried one of my suggestions or they read one of my posts and it really helped them out.

4. For people who are just getting started in making money from home, what are some opportunities or types of work that you recommend for newbies?

This is such a hard question to answer. Every person is different. I guess I would have to say that making money from home is similar to working out. All of the best suggestions in the world won't mean anything unless you're actually going to do them, so my advice is to find something that you love doing. If you love what you do, your motivation will come naturally.

5. I know a lot of people who have tried various ways to make money online and have given up when they only made a few dollars (or pennies!). What's your advice for making at least enough money to make a dent in the grocery bill?

Making money online doesn't happen overnight. It's not a get rich scheme. You have to stick it out until all of your hard work pays off. That could be months, or that could be years. It's just like going to college. You study for years knowing that when you finish, then you'll be making money. You have to learn the ropes before you can become successful.

If you're looking to make money a little faster, then try a side hustle instead. Driver for Uber, wash laundry for Laundry Clink, or sell baked goods to friends.

Thanks, Michelle!

Introducing Home Learning Journey, a Site for Reviews of Online Marketing Tools

Do you want to learn more about running a business from home? Home Learning Journey is a website focused on "the ABCs of online marketing." If you're researching different online tools and systems that are being sold to people who want to make money from home, you definitely want to do your research, which means reading up on a variety of websites about the products you're considering for purchase. The idea of Home Learning Journey is to offer a series of reviews to share information about different products.

The reviews break down the aspects of the different programs, tools, and resources by looking at the various elements that each product covers. The reviews focus on telling you just what you're getting for the cost of the tool. You can tell that the reviews are written by people who already have knowledge of and interest in online marketing.

As an example of the site's content, check out the Inbox Blueprint review, which looks at Inbox Blueprint 2.0, a software/training package meant to help people use email marketing effectively when starting a business online. The review shows a first-hand understanding of email marketing. My reading of the review is that if you're looking for the slow dime rather than the fast nickel, you will appreciate Inbox Blueprint because rather than trying to get just 1 or 2% of people to quickly buy something, you instead want to get a larger percentage of people to sign up for your email list, and then you wait until you have a large number of subscribers to make a sales offer.

Home Learning Journey is an interesting site for anyone with an interest in online marketing. It's a good way to learn about strategies for marketing and to find out about some of the products and tools out there today.

Introducing Retail Arbitrage by Josh Smith

I think "arbitrage" has become one of those words that gets bounced around a lot, but we might not all know just what it means. It's actually a term taken from finance, and it means, "the simultaneous purchase and sale of the same securities, commodities, or foreign exchange in different markets to profit from unequal prices" (dictionary.com). In practical terms, people are using this word a lot to talk about how you can buy things to resell online for a profit. And who doesn't want to do that?

Josh Smith has written an ebook called Retail Arbitrage, and his goal is give readers ideas about useful and profitable methods of finding items to buy and sell. The book is meant as a starting point; ultimately, people who are successful are those who do research, try new ideas, and work to build a strong customer base.

You might think that retail arbitrage starts and ends with eBay and Amazon, but as Josh discusses in his book, true success can come from building a solid client list and selling to customers directly through your own e-commerce store. But the cool part (in my opinion!) is that you can start selling right now, without setting up your own site, and Josh's book will give you tips about how to write successful listings on established marketplaces like eBay. The truth is that you just can't argue with the market share held by big sites like eBay and Amazon, so why not learn how they work from someone who has been there and done that when it comes to selling a variety of products online?

There's a lot of information about retail arbitrage out there, and Josh has put it together into a convenient package. How's that for one-stop shopping?