My Plan

Making $25,000 in just over 2 years isn't going to be easy. As of today, there are 864 days between me and my goal. Dividing the two, I need to make about $29 per day to complete my goal on time. If going by months, I'd need to make about $900 per month in the 28 months until July 2012.

I don't doubt that this goal will be difficult, if not nearly impossible. Still, I hope that with hard work and soaking up as much information as possible, I'll be able to make it. I know that for at least the first few months, if not longer, $900 is far too high a monthly goal - meaning that I'll have to make even more than that per month in the later months to stay on track. So how am I going to do all this?

My plan is to use a combination of active and passive income. Active income is what you earn doing any regular job. Punching a clock, exchanging goods or services for money - all of these are examples of active income. You're getting paid to "do" a particular job - and if you aren't "doing" what you're getting paid for, then you'll lose your job and source of active income.

Passive income on the other hand, lets you continue to earn after you've done the work. Collecting royalties is a prime example of this. Receiving royalties for music you've performed, books you've written, or articles you've published will all grant passive income. While this method of income can be more "hit or miss" since you're doing the up-front work for free, it can also provide a steady stream of income for months or even years later - without you lifting another finger.

In my research over the last two weeks, I've uncovered several potential sources of both active and passive income - and some that seem to require a mixture of both. Some of these are dependent on skills, while others can be done by just about anyone. In my search, I've also found a wealth of helpful information and tools on how to make these methods work for you. It's becoming more and more evident to me that it really IS possible to earn money online, if you're willing to put in the time and effort.

So far, I've only been able to test-drive a few of the things I've found. Using one source each of active and passive income, I've earned over $100 towards my goal in a two-week span. I'd estimate my time spent actively working as 10 hours or less, not counting time spent reading or researching various opportunities. Over my next few posts, I'll discuss these sources in detail and talk in depth about what I'm planning to try next.