Right, I’m just gonna go straight into my total earnings for June, then add my commentary afterwards. :-)
Any figure in brackets means that’s the currency I received my earnings in (i.e., in pounds). I’m a UK resident; however I tend to show everything in dollars because that’s how I initially used to get paid when I started making money online. I got used to reflecting my earnings in dollars. Here goes:
- Slots win:
$908.65 (£560.01)
(Jackpotjoy - $646.41 (£400); Ladbrokes - $246 (£150); Sky Vegas - $16.24 (£10.01)) (will post up proof of my winnings later.)
- Freelance writing:
$390.67 (you can view my writing breakdown in this previous post)
-
CloudCrowd:
$27.58 (more about CloudCrowd)
-
Pinecone Research (survey):
$4.78 (£3.00)
-
QuickRewards Network:
$1.65
Total earnings --- $1333.33!!
Chuffed :-)
Very pleased with my earnings in June. Really wasn't expecting it. I was OVER the frikkin moon at my slot winnings! Couldn’t believe it. It’s the most I’ve ever won – ever! It pushed my total online earnings to over $1000 - never made that much online in one month before --- EVER! The only other time I made anything close to that online was in October 2008 when I made just under $800 --- that’s when I used to do a huge amount of freelance writing.
For those who don’t know, slots are those games you get on gambling sites, the ones you spin and if you get a certain pattern, you win some money. It’s basically similar to the slots you get in casinos except these are online versions.
I won the £400 on Jackpotjoy with a £10 deposit. Actually, I won £500 or so, but I cashed out £400 and played with the rest. I didn’t win £400 in one go – it happened in increments, over some hours, but my balance just kept going up. (
***Jackpotjoy promo: If you join Jackpotjoy through me, when you deposit & play £10,
we both get £10 each! Email me - me[at]getpaidtofart[dot]com if you're interested. // p.s.: Jackpotjoy's only open to the following countries: UK, Australia, New Zealand & Spain.)
At Ladbrokes, with my £150 win, I can’t remember how much I deposited – whether it was £10 or £20 - but it wasn’t more than £20 because I set a weekly deposit limit of £20 a week.
And the win at Sky Vegas (£10.01): well, I received a £1.00 bonus for a deposit I’d made the previous week. I played low with the £1.00 and managed to get it up to £11-£12. Then, when I dipped to £10, I cashed it out.
The dark side :-(
The winnings have come in handy as my bank account was severely parched. However, I recognised I’d developed a gambling dependency over the past few months that was increasing sharply. Whilst I was spending nowhere near what I noticed a lot of people choose to gamble with, I was spending money that really would have been wise to use in other ways. I didn't like where I was going.
As a result, I decided to sign myself off for 6 months from most of the gambling sites I’m with (Ladbrokes, Sky Vegas, and a handful of others) --- a term commonly known as “self-exclusion”. It means I can’t log into any of these sites even if I tried.
I've now curtailed my spending to £10 a week (which I'm proud of) and that's on Jackpotjoy. It's the one site I enjoy using the most: I like the range of slot games available, it has a friendly/funny chat community, plus it has free games I can play for cash.
I don’t want to paint a one-sided picture, which is why I've highlighted the not-so-fun part. I don’t want you or anyone to only see the wins. Yes, I’ve won. But I’ve also lost too. And I’ve also spent more than I should have. It started with me having a good time and genuinely enjoying myself, but over time, it became more than that. But now I've gone back to simply enjoying it. More importantly, I'm more in control now.
I’m thankful for the wins. I don’t know how much I’ve spent, but I feel I’ve made most if not all of my money back. Some people don't get that chance.
If joining these or any other gambling sites interests you:
- be very careful if you choose to go down that road, especially if you feel you tend to get wrapped up in things really quickly.
- If you do join, look around the site the moment you log in for where you can set a weekly deposit limit, and
set it before you start playing any games. Of course, you can change the limit, but I found that once I set a deposit limit, rarely did I change it (perhaps because it takes at least 24 hrs for it to go through and I didn’t have the patience to wait that long).
- A lot of these sites offer you a bonus when you make your first deposit. Some have wagering rules attached to the bonus, meaning there's a minimum you must deposit and play through before you can cash out (that's if you win anything). So read the terms and conditions of the bonus
thoroughly and make sure you understand them before accepting. Another alternative is to not accept the bonus - you have that option too - because then you won't be bound by the bonus wagering rules.
- Make sure you're aware of what a site's minimum payout is.
- There's something referred to as "beginner's luck" where it seems as if new members to a site win a lot. Having played on quite a few gambling sites myself, I don't believe it's true, or always true, but that's just my personal opinion.
- If you lose, do not deposit more money in the hopes that you’ll make back your losses (as tempting as it may be - and I’ve been guilty of it myself in the past)
- If you win, consider cashing out at least 50% of it if you can
I know this post might seem rather long to some, but I thought the gambling side of my earnings was really worth going into in order to inject some realism into it.
My Plans for July...
Well, I don’t expect to make anywhere near what I made in June, or not in the way I did. Last month was unique.
If I end the month at $500, I’ll be happy with that. Apart from last month, rarely do I make $500 a month. I do come verrrrrrry close at times, but it would be good to reach it this month, so that’s my target. I’m at just over $170 at the moment, so we’ll see.
Anyway, hope everyone’s having a great July so far and the rest of the month pans out well for y’all.
I’m out...
Big Mama Ebele.
