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The UK Times Online recently discussed its ideas for the top ten ways to make money online. Most of these are not going to bump you up into he next tax bracket, but it offers a good survey of how many folks are making money online. A couple do offer the ability to make you the next multi-millionaire, but I think it best to think of these as throwing some extra cash your way instead of the key to hitting it rich.

My comments on the methods they picked are below, but here is the original article on 10 ways to make money online - Times Online. Most of these are self-explanatory, but I had never heard of getting paid for frequenting message boards and social networking:

1. Social networking- Apparently Yuwie will pay you a proportional percentage of its advertising revenues, so the more page impressions you receive for your page, the more money you receive. Interesting concept, but I wonder if the rewards make it worthwhile. On the other hand, if you’re already a big social networker it might be worth checking out.
2. Blogging- The best way to make money blogging is probably telling other bloggers how to make money. Aside from that, most bloggers are probably only meeting their hosting costs, if that, and earning little other money. If you do want to earn money by blogging, you need to be prepared to post at least daily (if not more often), and commit to a solid year of quality posting before you start seeing any real returns. Some subjects will pay better in advertising dollars than others, especially ones with "money" in there somewhere.
3. Message Boards- I had never heard of this, but some start-up message boards pay ringers a few cents for each post to get the ball rolling. The article says popular recruiting sites are webmaster-talk and Digital Point.
4. Stock Photography- The article mentions sites like iStockPhoto and Fotolia. I discussed this with a professional photographer who did not think the hassle would be worth the effort. If you are a Flickr junkie though, constantly uploading pics to your account, it might be worth it to give it a try and see what happens.
5. Surveys- Most people I’ve seen comment don’t seem to think completing surveys is worth it. The ones who tend to make money succeed in pyramid fashion, where they get paid more for referrals signing up and filling out surveys rather doing so themselves. If you try it out, make sure to use a junk email account, keep calendar track of any trial offers you sign up for and cancel on time, and download a free form-filler software to save you a little typing.
6. Games- Second Life and Moola were offered as examples. While I always see articles about the possibility of making money on Second Life, I am skeptical. I suspect it takes a great idea and likely a bit of programming knowledge to achieve any success. I also wonder how much longer Second Life will be around, I thought these games tended to have a half-life of only a few years. Moola looks like a home version of a game show. If you successfully win thirty games in a row against other opponents you win a million or ten million or something ridiculous. Not surprisingly, no one has claimed the prize yet.
7. Freelancing- Probably the best bet of all the ideas in my book. You do need a skill, though, so it may bar entry for some. Probably best if you are in a field that doesn’t face overseas competition. The best part about this is that it can become a job
8. Poker- It is a gamble. Literally.
9. Selling- Yes, of course selling online could make you money. The devil is in the details, but they do mention the classic "buy retro thrift shop items and eBay" suggestion. My personal suggestion is below, that of combining selling with blogging or social networking.
10. Doing Something Crazy- Discusses the pay-for-pixels way to become a millionaire and like ideas. Not exactly a blueprint for making money online. I think the point is to be creative.

Bottom line is that most of the ones listed are relatively low pay and the ones that have better potential are not much good unless you really put some time and effort into producing a good product. One area where many successful bloggers could earn a better income is by combining a couple of these ideas.

Niche bloggers (or even social networkers), in my opinion, should consider selling niche products if they have a broad reading base or even a decent base of people interested in that market. Directly selling products, rather than relying on advertising or affiliate links may turn a much better profit while providing readers with legitimate value in purchasing a product recommended and sold by someone they trust. More work, perhaps, but everyone who has done it knows that blogging is a heckuva lot more work than it looks.

Washington Mutual (WAMU), who received a windfall by foreclosing upon a Maryland family after WAMU lost paperwork showing it had been paid, is now paying for losing paperwork in another mortgage.

Since 2002, Joe Lents had not made a payment on his $1.5 million home in Boca Raton. WAMU tried to foreclose, but could not prove that it held the mortgage note because it had lost the paperwork. Is Joe Lents a deadbeat? Well, it sure sounds like it, because he agreed to pay back the money he borrowed. But in the case of WAMU, I say what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander!

Across the country homeowners are using this failure on the part of the mortgagors as a defense to prevent foreclosure and it looks as if federal judges are not unsympathetic. I feel the same; if these corporations want to lend out and then constantly resell these subprime mortgages, they should be required to keep the paperwork in order to at least prove who owes what to whom. Otherwise, we see situations like the two above where both sides can get hurt.

CNN Money had a nice article this morning on four ways to Fool yourself into saving smarter. It generally took a carrot-and-stick behavioral approach to saving. If you are already well on your way with your own system the behavior tips may not be helpful, but there were two tips that are great for anyone:

1. Put your savings on autopilot. No matter who you are, making saving an automatic process, by having money deducted from your paycheck or bank account is probably the best and least painful way to save real money. I have my ingdirect account withdraw a set figure from my direct deposit checking account every payday and I don’t even miss it because I never see it there to begin with. This method can be used for savings, investing in stocks, or investing for retirement, or even just saving a bit for a special purpose.
2. Invest in a Roth 401(k). A little twist on the usual Roth IRA advice, if your employer offers a Roth 401(k), take it instead of or in addition to a regular 401(k). There are a number of reasons why you may want to do this, so you will have to (1) see if your employer even offers it, and (2) look at your particular situation. Some reasons why you may want to use it are that you can effectively contribute more to a Roth 410(k) because you are using after-tax dollars and you can take advantage of tax-free growth if you will be in a higher tax bracket at retirement.

If you are thinking of walking away from your home and letting foreclosure take its course, you certainly need to evaluate all your options. Here are some links from the Federal Reserve Board that are designed to help people find options to keep their house:

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

• Housing Counseling Agencies
• How to Avoid Foreclosure (82 KB PDF)
• Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure

Department of Justice

• Credit Counseling Agencies Approved Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 111

Federal Housing Administration

• You Can Avoid Foreclosure and Keep Your Home

Federal Reserve System

• Putting Your Home on the Loan Line Is Risky Business
• Federal Reserve Education - Foreclosure Resources

Federal Trade Commission

• Credit & Loans
• Credit Repair: Self Help May Be Best
• Mortgage Payments Sending You Reeling? Here’s What to Do

Internal Revenue Service

• Homeowners Who Lose Homes; Foreclosure Tax Relief Available to Many
• Questions and Answers on Home Foreclosure and Debt Cancellation

NeighborWorks® America

• Center for Foreclosure Solutions
• NeighborWorks® America Organizations Locator

Do you know what’s in your credit report? Besides receiving competitive loan rates, your rates for all kinds of insurance and even rent may be affected by what is in your credit report. Not to mention that prospective employers are now pulling credit reports.

The good news is that you are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus. Therefore I am setting up a yearly schedule for pulling your Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax credit reports and reminding you when the time arrives.

The schedule will include pulls in February, June, and October, so as to spot negative issues more quickly, rather than pulling all three at once.

You can obtain your free credit report here: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/

The process is simple, although once you choose Experian, you will be asked a handful of credit questions about your history to verify your identity. You may want to have your financial records available because you will be asked multiple choice questions about loan providers and monthly payment amounts.

Once you are into the Experian site, just skip all the pay options (unless you also want to check your credit score- you will have to pay to do so) and choose your free credit report. At this point, save or print it out for your future use and perusal. If you have any disputed issues, make sure you contact the credit bureau ASAP!

There you go! See you again in June for TransUnion.