The money report: How to earn extra money

Students these days want to earn some extra money for stuff. So here's how.

Being students you'll probably always want extra money for stuff such as food and outings from time to time. 

Cash courtesy of live4life.com.au

1) Sell your unwanted textbooks.
Many students are looking for cheap bargains these days. You can sell them on ebay, amazon and other student textbook sites. Many students are looking for cheap ways to buy textbooks as the brand new ones are  about $150-$200 each per course

2) Write
By that I mean doing blog posts. Is your English really good? Can you write about once a week? If your blog has been established for some time earning money via Adsense and affiliate programs is one way to be exposed. Blogging is a great way to practice your marketing and writing.

3) Do surveys
Surveys are another way of earning money. Here you are paid on your opinions. If you collect enough points then you can redeem it for cash. Rewards central is one that gets you to do multiple things. Opinion World has lots of good surveys. Other companies may also have surveys and rather than cash you'll be given a gift voucher for your time for a particular store.

4) Direct Marketing
This one is quite an investment. Many people lose money because they are ill prepared and have not actually done their research. Amway, Tupperware, Herbalife etc all are multi level marketing companies. Do your research before thinking about starting as some of them don't earn much.

5) Mystery shopping
This is a good way to get exposed to some of the shops out there. Mysteryshopper is one good site. Don't apply for jobs where you need to travel lots from your house. But be careful not to apply for spammy companies or companies that scam people. Do your research. Some of the stores will require you  to buy something and others will require you to just enquire about something. Make sure that you read the instructions carefully.

Where do you like to earn the extra money? Comment below

Students scammed online

Many Vietnamese students in Melbourne and Sydney have been scammed by a fake travel agency. We explain in more detail and tell you how to avoid this sort of scam.

An example of a fake ticket courtesy of Vietnam news

Vietnamese students are scammed online by a fake travel agency. Here they pay about $1000-$1500VN to go home but they never receive the ticket. This is for the lunar new year celebrations. They pay the money and then they receive a code which does not work on the real airline site or at the airport.

Now these students are sad and angry that they couldn't visit their parents.

They are trying to get their money back with the police stepping in. They tried to contact the woman who sold them the ticket to get their money back. In fact some of them went to her house to only find that the address did not exist.

This is the letter from the NSW police.

Letter from the police acknowledging the scam. Image courtesy of SBS Vietnamese

Moreover the woman was arrested and is facing charges for deception. She earnt about $360,000 AUD from the students

One student complained to our office about this fraud and could not pay their tuition fees or their living expenses after that. They work as a cleaner. They wanted to go home to see their parents for New Years but could not afford the flight home as it is really expensive. So they bought from the scam agency. And now they are waiting for their money back.

Lesson learnt: Be wary of scams. Always order the ticket from the real airline site or at the travel agency face to face. There are some good travel agencies out there such as Student Flights or STA and they have many cheap and legitimate deals for students.

Latin American students worry about the cost of living in Melbourne

According to a recent report done by Refuge of Hope there are lots and lots of wild expectations about living costs. But in reality Melbourne is very expensive and jobs are hard to find here. We explain.

Melbourne Uni. Image courtesy of theconversation.com

Most of the people surveyed in the report have been living in Melbourne for less than two years.

Access to information 
The survey respondents mainly got information about living in Melbourne from their friends and family. Some got it from their university. Information about job opportunities is one that needs the most improving. Universities could do more to improve their careers service in 2016 such as offer on campus jobs.


Costs of living in Melbourne
Because of the rising costs in Melbourne many found it hard to adapt to life in Melbourne.

Food is one of the concerns. The Couch an International student hub serves about 100-150 meals per day and more for hot drinks.Veronica often comes to the Couch for regular nightly meals as it is free.

Rent is also another with many students trying to juggle that as well as public transport. For some the cost of the daily fare can take a toll on their mental health as they worry about the finances. Some students are not eligible for the iUSE pass as they are in regional areas or don't come to uni much during the week. Many of the fines come for not having a valid ticket on a tram. The fine is now $223 and it comes in six weeks time.

Also the cheaper houses are far far away from uni and are often in places of crime. Hence students will have to worry about their safety at night.

Getting a job is not easy but if your English is good enough you can freelance.

Do read the report online here

Students are being underpaid in restaurants

It is that time of the year again and many students are looking for jobs. Many students would have just arrived with little or no money and will want to work. Here we report on some of the latest cases of underpayment

 Lately Fairfax and Meld have reported that students are being underpaid yet again.

Image: Creative commons via Meld Magazine

Particularly in Chinatown, students are being paid $8- $10. In some of the top end ones and the more popular ones such as Wagaya students are being paid $14 (as of last year). Student often don't know about their rights at work and they sometimes try to ask their boss. But the boss says no or fires them straight.

Being underpaid can sometimes gives students stress. And students don't need that stress during the semester. Their fees are high enough as it is. And then there is the food and other things like transport. 

Mamak is the latest one where it was reported that students were getting $8- $15 an hour and no overtime.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has a calculator in which you can check your wage entitlements. This is really easy to use and its important for students to know their rights when it comes to pay. You can also find out the minimum hourly pay here which is set by the national wage standards

MYKI: How not to be fined

Students there are some ways not to be caught and do the right thing. Many students have been caught for not having a valid MYKI. We give you tips on how to avoid being fined. 

The fine is now $75 (on the spot) or $223 fine which comes six weeks later. There are always some random inspections across the public transport network.

Be organised if you can
Get your myki from the many 7-11 stores or retail shops if you can. But if you have time you can buy it online. Buying it and topping up online takes about 24 hours. You could also set up auto top up but that's if you have enough money in your bank account.

With auto top you can choose a amount that you want. Make sure you can afford it.

Buy a pass
If you are going to uni for many days it works out much cheaper to get a pass. And if you do get the  tram you don't have to worry about touching on and off and getting confused. If the tram is really busy you don't have to worry about getting to a validator or getting fined just because you could not touch on or off.

One type of pass is the iUse pass. These are a yearly pass which is discounted for students living in Metropolitan Melbourne.

Have enough money for the fare
 On the PTV site you can check your fares for the places that you are going to.Most of the time you'll only just need zone 1 but sometimes you may go to other zones

Touch on properly and touch off if you have to
You don't need to touch off when on the tram as it just works out a default fare. But make sure that it is beeping and you hear the proper beep. Don't have your headphones on as you won't be able to hear it

Register your myki
Registering your myki online is free. By registering it you don't have to worry about losing your money or pass if you lose your myki. If you lose it, it is easier to apply for a refund. But it does take up to ten days for it to be processed.

Students don't get caught without a valid ticket. Make sure you remember to top up or buy a myki/pass