How have you used your income from camming?

[RubyMia]

Hey everyone.

I recieved my first pay cheque today and I'm so happy! It's got me thinking about how I'm going to use my money. I'm currently in a good situation where my boyfriends wage is enough to pay all the bills, so my income is a nice extra for us.

We currently live in Australia so the next few months I will be saving for us to do some more travelling, but we're going back to the UK for Christmas, and I've started looking into courses I could save up for to use when we're home.

I'd love to learn how to do acrylic and gel nails, manicures and pedicures and I've even emailed a UK company who have a great looking course, I would do it in Aus but courses are a lot more expensive over here. I also need to learn to drive so I'll be saving for that too. I was in a really dead end hospitality job before we moved, I honestly could never imagine being able to afford a course or learning to drive without my boyfriend paying for me.

It would be great to learn a skill I can use alongside camming and still be 'self employed'

So, have you used your money to expand other career options or have you been saving? Just looking for some ideas!


I'm so glad that this has given me some hope that I can support myself and think about the future

 

[SaffronBurke]

I just use mine to pay bills and buy food, save when I can, and occasionally splurge on something pretty. My current goal is to get a Coach purse, I thought I had one that someone gave me, but discovered that it's a knockoff.

 

[Poker_Babe]

Hey everyone.

I'd love to learn how to do acrylic and gel nails, manicures and pedicures and I've even emailed a UK company who have a great looking course, I would do it in Aus but courses are a lot more expensive over here. I also need to learn to drive so I'll be saving for that too. I was in a really dead end hospitality job before we moved, I honestly could never imagine being able to afford a course or learning to drive without my boyfriend paying for me.

It would be great to learn a skill I can use alongside camming and still be 'self employed'

Just want to caution you a little about doing nails for long term. I do acrylic nails as a fun side thing too, and I love it, but just be careful, because years of doing manicures has been known to cause arthritis. The lady who just did my nails for me last week couldn't even open the nail polish because her hands were so arthritic. She told me it was do to years of doing that kind of work. Her knuckles where huge and she said it caused her lots of pain. She wasn't very old either, early 50s.
Sorry, I don't mean to be a "party pooper", like I said, I love to do nails as well. I guess it's just the motherly instinct in me to want to caution others.

As for how I spend my camming money...
Well other than bills, rent, kids, and whatnot, I like to invest my money in things that I can use for cam shows, and of course I love to play poker as well lol.

oh and here's what my nails look like btw...

 

[Sevrin]

It's nice to be in a situation where you don't need all your income to pay bills.

Put aside some for taxes. You'll have to figure out how much that will be depending on how much you plan to work at camming and how much you expect to earn and what the applicable income tax rates will be.

Blow some of it on things that will make you happy. Take your BF out on a date, buy clothes, or whatever.

Set some aside for goals like your driving courses, your trip to the UK, etc.

And finally put some away and determine not to spend it. It's good to start saving for a rainy day early on in life, and you'll be glad you did.

 

[RubyMia]

Just want to caution you a little about doing nails for long term. I do acrylic nails as a fun side thing too, and I love it, but just be careful, because years of doing manicures has been known to cause arthritis. The lady who just did my nails for me last week couldn't even open the nail polish because her hands were so arthritic. She told me it was do to years of doing that kind of work. Her knuckles where huge and she said it caused her lots of pain. She wasn't very old either, early 50s.
Sorry, I don't mean to be a "party pooper", like I said, I love to do nails as well. I guess it's just the motherly instinct in me to want to caution others.

As for how I spend my camming money...
Well other than bills, rent, kids, and whatnot, I like to invest my money in things that I can use for cam shows, and of course I love to play poker as well lol.

oh and here's what my nails look like btw...

Your nails are gorgeous! I recently went for Gel extensions for the first time and I love them! I went for quite a boring colour but like having nude nails, and apparently I can paint them if I like and it won't affect the gel underneath. (yet to try that)


Oh I understand the health side of things, unfortunately it runs in the family anyway . I think I would only be doing it for a few years, as a side job. I love nails & make up. Perks of camming is that I can afford nice nails and I tell my bf I need them but I'd really love a skill I could do on the side, to perhaps cover up the extra income and maybe even something I can expand and do fulltime in the future, such as eyelash tinting, brows, tanning, threading etc. There are so many short courses and all reasonably priced.

I guess I need to save my money for now and decide what to do in the coming months before we go home

 

[RubyMia]

It's nice to be in a situation where you don't need all your income to pay bills.

Put aside some for taxes. You'll have to figure out how much that will be depending on how much you plan to work at camming and how much you expect to earn and what the applicable income tax rates will be.

Blow some of it on things that will make you happy. Take your BF out on a date, buy clothes, or whatever.

Set some aside for goals like your driving courses, your trip to the UK, etc.

And finally put some away and determine not to spend it. It's good to start saving for a rainy day early on in life, and you'll be glad you did.

Yeah I'm very lucky. Our move to Australia was based on my boyfriends job, so this is an opportunity we're very thankful for. I've opened my own bank account for my earnings so I can keep money aside for tax. I'm not sure how it's going to work considering we're only in Aus for a few months, we'll be home before Christmas so I don't know if I need to pay my taxes in Aus or in the Uk. I guess that's a different post altogether.

I definitely would like to save some. I'm only 21, but have never been in a job which offers a pension or any benefits. Hospitality trade is pretty low paying and I'm glad I will be able to start saving now. I'd like to get a head start in looking after my future, including learning new skills I could use in the future.

It's given me a lot to think about

 

[Magnolia]

Besides food, bills, gas, etc. I'm currently paying off my medical debt. I'm down to only about $35,000 (It was near $500,000 at one point, long story). My medical bills alone are about $4,200 a month if I make minimum payments. GOD BLESS AMERICA. I'm paying off my car and I try to treat myself to at least one "thing" a month as well.

I also drink a lot of champagne... so that adds up. :lol:

Once I'm out of debt I'll have no idea what to do with my money. I'll probably invest quite a bit of it, put some away for my little siblings and/or future children, get some medical procedures that I desperately need done, and get started on building/buying a home. Or blow it all trying to convince Ryan Reynolds to go on a date with me.

 

[MFCGod]

So, have you used your money to expand other career options or have you been saving? Just looking for some ideas!

This is my story of online earnings, might be a bit long winded, I will try and be succinct - If I mention money I will convert £ to $ .

In 2010 I was out of work, my brother offered me a part time job doing SEO for his businesses website

I didn't know what SEO was at the time, so I set out to learn - I spent hours everyday reading an SEO forum and asking stupid questions.

It ended up going pretty well, after a few months I got his site on the first page of google for various keywords. I then went on to work on a couple of my own websites, which led me to learn about basic web design, wordpress, photoshop and other forms of online/offline marketing etc

SEO also led me to wanting to learn about expired domains (this was around late 2012/early 2013), because some expired domains have links going to them and they can be used to boost your sites rankings or you can build a site on it and get instant traffic.

When I looked into domains in general, I couldn't believe how much (good) domains sold for :shock: so I was like shiznit, I want a piece of that pie!

I did the same thing I did with SEO to learn, I joined some domain forums and spent hours and hours reading them everyday, and again, asked a lot stupid questions lol

I started off with $100 to put towards domains, since 2013 I've made about $60,000 profit + I'm currently sitting on probably the same if not more worth of good domains waiting for the right buyer.

I've also got websites earning money from adsense, the most successful one is about a tourist attraction (just has basic visitor info) and that makes $1500 passive income every month from the adverts and it has done for the last year and a half

That probably isn't a ton of money to some of you girls and what you make from camming, but for me going from basically broke in 2010 to making a healthy enough amount now for really no work, It's great

I would encourage anyone with even a vague interest to start learning domains

There's tons of money to be made online doing different things, it's just whether you're lucky enough to stumble across them + then have the drive and interest to succeed at it.

 

[justjoinedtopost]

This is my story of online earnings, might be a bit long winded...

Thank you for that. I went looking for a domain name a couple of weeks back, and wound up toying with some ideas similar to yours. Told myself it was a waste of time, wouldn't pan out, but you have me reconsidering.

 

[MFCGod]

Thank you for that. I went looking for a domain name a couple of weeks back, and wound up toying with some ideas similar to yours. Told myself it was a waste of time, wouldn't pan out, but you have me reconsidering.

When I first started reading about domains I thought f it, too much is going over my head it's too much to learn never mind

It wasn't till I revisited the idea 3/4 months later that I properly got into it

domainsherpa.com have a lot of good interviews & dnforum and namepros are good forums to read and ask questions.

You may not learn too much, but this is one of the most interesting interviews on domainsherpa from Rick Schwartz talking about how he made his millions registering .coms in the 90s

domainsherpa.com/rick-schwartz-domainking-interview/

 

[justjoinedtopost]

domainsherpa.com have a lot of good interviews & dnforum and namepros are good forums to read and ask questions.

Any thoughts on blackhatworld?

 

[MFCGod]

domainsherpa.com have a lot of good interviews & dnforum and namepros are good forums to read and ask questions.

Any thoughts on blackhatworld?

I don't visit there, but I don't have anything against blackhat SEO as such, as long as you're just manipulating google and not injecting other peoples sites with spam or trying to make your competitors websites tank.

The only worry about forums like that is sometimes you see people selling things to newer members that either don't work or they just run off with the money completely.

 

[mynameisbob84]

I tend to be a "worst case scenario" kind of person, so I'd be planning for the worst (or I would be if I had the money to). If I'd been previously dependent on a significant other for money, I'd be looking to make myself as self sufficient as I could so that should the worst happen and were the relationship to suddenly end (not for a second implying that your relationship is likely to end, only that it's a possibility that's worth being prepared for), I wouldn't be going from having things like rent and bills and living expenses paid for me, to suddenly having to find a new place to live with no way of paying for all that entails. So I'd save a few month's worth of rent, utility bills, food money, gas money, etc. Other than that, courses that will help you find a career and learning to drive seem like excellent ideas :thumbleft:

 

[SoniaSilk]

If I'd been previously dependent on a significant other for money, I'd be looking to make myself as self sufficient as I could so that should the worst happen and were the relationship to suddenly end (not for a second implying that your relationship is likely to end, only that it's a possibility that's worth being prepared for), I wouldn't be going from having things like rent and bills and living expenses paid for me, to suddenly having to find a new place to live with no way of paying for all that entails.

I couldn't agree more. This world aint ours yet, and as girls we should make sure we do not depend on anyone as soon as possible. You already plan to do it: you want to invest in careers you might like, and that's exactly what I do!

I loged on MFC a few times last year, but stopped for a bit (to save money for basics and do some planning) and will be back on May 15th. The total amount of money I earned was a bit over 460 dollars. I used half of it to pay some debts (I don't owe a lot, I have 200 left to pay, but I hate owing anything), the other half I used to take my wife to a nice dinner in a loooooong time (60 dollars) and I ended up spending the rest of it on basic cosmetics, webcam and saved for 3 months of more expensive internet.

I plan to save 50% of what I get (after i finish paying my debts), invest between 10%-20% on camming, 10%-20% on equipments I need to keep working as a videoartist and iI'll use the rest to treat myself 'cause GOD I NEED SOME NICE STUFF TO FEEL LIFE AINT A BITCH. Probably after buying some new shoes, I'll use this share to travel.

I have another money source (parents) I use to pay bills, but I'll invest on camming cause I want to stop relaying on it.
Edit: Actually I --need-- to stop relaying on it. And I pray not to need to rely on anyone again after it (all this rich/abusive family environment shit made me aware of the high non-money-prices we have to pay sometimes).

 

[ClaraCrisp]

My husband's income covers most of our bills, so I allocate mine toward things that will need to be paid in the next month that I don't think his income will cover. Once I decided I wanted to do this long-term, I started putting any extra toward a reinvestment in camming (better camera, mic, lighting, computer, toys, underwear, etc).

I feel like I am at a point where I can start paying down our debt; my goal is to live debt free, so that is really exciting. Even better, all of this is without being painfully frugal- I stopped working 4 years ago to be a SAHM and it meant living without any luxuries. I was able to increase my grocery budget to get whatever I feel like making or experimenting with, so I get to enjoy cooking again. I have been able to do day trips, classes and special activities with my kids. I pay an obscene amount to get my hair cut, but I love it every time.

I'd like to get to the point where I'm making more than my husband... just because it would make me feel pretty awesome. At that point, I suppose I would be saving toward a decent house. In the last couple weeks, my hourly rate has exceeded his... I can feel it happening and it just motivates me more...lol. You would think I would be excited by something practical, but no... I love telling my husband how much more per hour I am making than him.

 

[Jessi]

Rent, bills, food, savings and taxes. Just like any other job.
I have a specific budget so I know what I need to make everyday to cover and have some spending money.

 

[curvyredhead]

Rent, bills, food, savings and taxes. Just like any other job.
I have a specific budget so I know what I need to make everyday to cover and have some spending money.

word

All extra goes right into savings

 

[SexySteph]

Rent, bills, food, etc. The normal stuff. If its not living expenses I try to make sure it's tax deductible. So if I'm not investing in myself I'm investing in my business.

I hope you realize how lucky you are to even be able to think "Ooh, how should I spend this!"

Btw I'd suggest finding out how much your rent and bills are monthly and try to save up 3 months worth. Having someone else taking care of you is swell and all but if you ever want out, you're trapped or at the very least, broke as a joke.

 

[RubyMia]

I tend to be a "worst case scenario" kind of person, so I'd be planning for the worst (or I would be if I had the money to). If I'd been previously dependent on a significant other for money, I'd be looking to make myself as self sufficient as I could so that should the worst happen and were the relationship to suddenly end (not for a second implying that your relationship is likely to end, only that it's a possibility that's worth being prepared for), I wouldn't be going from having things like rent and bills and living expenses paid for me, to suddenly having to find a new place to live with no way of paying for all that entails. So I'd save a few month's worth of rent, utility bills, food money, gas money, etc. Other than that, courses that will help you find a career and learning to drive seem like excellent ideas :thumbleft:

Yeah I'm definately planning to save some for an emergency fund. We had separate accounts before we moved to Australia and a joint savings account, I have 2 of my own accounts in the UK but when we moved I didn't have a job so we got a joint account for me to use for shopping etc.

Now I'm earning again, I've got my own account and we will start splitting the bills again. Just to stress that I wasn't dependent fully on his wages, we saved hard to get to AUS and a lot of our first few weeks living expenses came from our joint savings. We've only been here a month so he's only had one payday since then, and 50% of that was tax. So we planned our finances well before our trip

 

[RubyMia]

Rent, bills, food, etc. The normal stuff. If its not living expenses I try to make sure it's tax deductible. So if I'm not investing in myself I'm investing in my business.

I hope you realize how lucky you are to even be able to think "Ooh, how should I spend this!"

Btw I'd suggest finding out how much your rent and bills are monthly and try to save up 3 months worth. Having someone else taking care of you is swell and all but if you ever want out, you're trapped or at the very least, broke as a joke.

I know I'm extremely lucky. I just explained in another post that we saved up for 6 months before moving to Australia, so we haven't had to worry in the month that we've been here. Hence why I'm thinking of ways to spend the money wisely (mainly saving it)

I've just never had the chance to think about my future really before, my last job paid less then my first week camming. I hope didn't come off as a brat, I love my boyfriend and I'm extremely grateful that he set us up a joint account so I could still buy things whilst I was unemployed (which was for a month)

And I'm definately going to put some away for in case I find myself single one day. My parents won't take me back so I'd need enough to fend for myself I guess it's kinda crazy going from $0 of my own money to suddenly having some again.

 

[Worship Jaclyn]

Rent, bills, food, etc. The normal stuff. If its not living expenses I try to make sure it's tax deductible. So if I'm not investing in myself I'm investing in my business.

I hope you realize how lucky you are to even be able to think "Ooh, how should I spend this!"

Btw I'd suggest finding out how much your rent and bills are monthly and try to save up 3 months worth. Having someone else taking care of you is swell and all but if you ever want out, you're trapped or at the very least, broke as a joke.

I know I'm extremely lucky. I just explained in another post that we saved up for 6 months before moving to Australia, so we haven't had to worry in the month that we've been here. Hence why I'm thinking of ways to spend the money wisely (mainly saving it)

I've just never had the chance to think about my future really before, my last job paid less then my first week camming. I hope didn't come off as a brat, I love my boyfriend and I'm extremely grateful that he set us up a joint account so I could still buy things whilst I was unemployed (which was for a month)

And I'm definately going to put some away for in case I find myself single one day. My parents won't take me back so I'd need enough to fend for myself I guess it's kinda crazy going from $0 of my own money to suddenly having some again.

It is very strange to go from making no money to having some particularly if you're making good money. We just talked about this in DMP actually. Most of us cam full time and either are single or split bills with our partners so our camming money is spent on bills, groceries, etc just like any other job. I've been camming about a year and it's only been the past three to four months that I've started thinking holy crap, this is real money, I can buy things. Oh my god what do I do? I was raised pretty poor but both my parents are well enough off now. I make more than my parents or any of my siblings and it is like this huge shock and I feel an intense desire to both have nice things but also be incredibly smart.

So I buy myself something nice every month because I want to and I can, I have three months of all expenses in our savings account, a savings account for our daughter, am taking a couple small vacations this summer. I am 27 and right now I'm focused on emergency savings, house down payment savings and savings for my daughter. By the time I'm 30 the plan is that all that will be taken care of and I can start saving for retirement.

I definitely agree that you should save but if your living expenses are taken care of and this is all extra money to you, I highly suggest looking into ways you can invest it. You're young and just getting started in your career and have your bills paid, now is when you are in a unique position to be able to do that whole spend money to make money thing.

Good luck!

 

[MayaWright]

I think nails are a good idea to try,I do nails and hair on the side,and totally love it! Arthritis is genetic too,its not a given to get it from nails,but there is a risk,as well as back problems or eye problems,but you can get the eye problems from camming too as well as pretty much any computer related jobs. 2 years ago I took nails and hair classes and I gotta say I am super happy I did,it is a great way to express creativity! Every job has downs in the long run, you just gotta take care of yourself and find something you love doing. I am not near the point of giving up camming for nails/hair but its a pretty extra income and a great cover-up for the nosy people so yeah! And always spoil yourself a little,even if its just your fave cake,you deserve it! Here's my crazy nails that freaked out the nail page im on! They are free hand painted,gel extensions with acrylic paint design! ). OOOOh and also,if you plan to take nail classes in UK look up a one on one with Gemma Lambert! She is an amazing nail tech that I wish I'll have the pleasure to learn from one day!

 

[eleveneleven47]

I don't make that much camming, my record was $200 for a CB pay period... and that was the week of my birthday show...

I live with my fiancé and I'm recently unemployed, but my fiancé has a super good job, so I use camming money for things like more lingerie, if my contest goes the way I want it to--getting another Brazilian, snacks, eating out (Har har), and gasoline.

Right now I'm averaging $100 per payout... so here's hoping it gets better

 

[Booty_4U]

So far (I've only been camming a few months now) I've paid off my small amount of bill debt (one of my pets got cancer & the bills put us behind :icon-cry, got my puppy neutered, bought a vacuum and a lawnmower. I've used my amazon gift cards to purchase sex toys, a green screen, and RapidLash lol
In the future I'd love to buy a MacBook (or any kind of laptop really), a wheelbarrow, and then save, save, save!

 

[Lilith_Winter]

I've paid off my vet bills, and $150 I owed a friend for computer parts. The rest I've either put into savings, bought camming props with, or... uh... used to do other super responsible adult things. Like buy Pokemon figurines and a whole lot of Chipotle

 

[JickyJuly]

Sometimes I like to imagine what I would do if my money was fluff money instead of bill money. I think I would save for a down payment on a home. And buy a Caddy. Education. I'd use the extra time to volunteer at a shelter. If you're young with no dependents, camming can give you enough money to do whatever you want! I'd certainly use my time and money to make sure I wasn't dependent on anyone else though.

 

[JessieWolfe]

Paying bills and living the life!
Dat parent lyfe.
Watching hulu on the couch and eating snacks.
Going for bike rides.

Woop.

I'm also saving to buy a house. And invest. Yay boring finances.

 

[DevilDaughter]

I mostly save my money now, spending some on bills and little things. I plan on getting an apartment with the money I make from this though

 

[Honey_Suckle]

I have used a lot of my earnings towards bills and used some towards holiday spending money a few months back too. I try to avoid touching my cam money and just saving to get something really beneficial but some months it's unavoidable.

 

[CoraBorealis]

Rent. Bills. Groceries. Taxes. Nothing extravagant, though my family and I did go on vacation this year. Any extra income I have goes right to savings since I'm saving up for a very expensive out-of-country move and the future, since I have no idea how long camming will be profitable for me.
I grew up poor, and have always been very frugal. I've never had a manicure, I don't get haircuts at salons, I don't buy fancy clothes or purses or things like that- it's not how I was brought up and it's just never appealed to me. I have 3 children and a spouse, so while I do make a decent enough income to support us all, I definitely need to be responsible with everything I earn. Sometimes I fantasize about what I would do if I had my income all to myself...but honestly, I'd still probably save it all.