Minimum Wage Challenge

Earning Money on YouTube: Days 146 and 147

June 8, 2013 By Jeffrey Strain 2 Comments

Returning from being a tour guide, I spent the last two days catching up on a bunch of work that had been pushed aside while I was having fun traveling to all the national parks. While there isn’t anything too exciting to report on the two days since I basically sat in front of the computer and wrote a lot (this lacks excitement for the blog, but does help the minimum wage challenge), I did earn some money from a video I had on YouTube.

This was quite unexpected, but is shows why it can be worthwhile to upload videos onto YouTube that are a bit different since they can pay off in unexpected ways. I certainly should spend a bit more time with videos than I do, as I have basically only dabbled with them in the past. My most successful video was one that a friend suggested I make on the easiest way to fold a t-shirt (something I learned while in Japan) that has managed to garner over 150,000 views:

As comparison, the second most successful video I have uploaded was one I took at glass beach which has 27,000 views:

From there, most videos have under 1000 views with many only a couple of dozen. While I have earned a few dollars here and there from ads on these videos (mainly from the t-shirt video), I wouldn’t consider YouTube to be a source of income for me. I’m now happy that I uploaded some of those more obscure videos since one of them earned me $250 today.

A couple of years ago I went on a rafting trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. It was a great trip, but on one of the last rapids (Lava Flows), we had an accident where one of our group sustained a possible neck injury. It was serious enough that the guides called the national park service and a rescue helicopter flew in and airlifted the injured party out of the canyon.

national park service helicopter Grand Canyon

I put up a couple of videos of the rescue on YouTube all of which have less than 1000 views and aren’t really all that exciting.

I never expected to make any money off of them, but I was contacted by the Discovery Channel through email about them wanting to use the video for an upcoming special. Apparently, Nik Wallenda is going to attempt to tightrope across the Grand Canyon later this month, and Discovery is going to do a live show on it. As part of the show, they also wanted footage of accidents that have happened in the Grand Canyon to show that there are dangers there. In their search for this footage, they came across my video. After emailing back and forth a bit, they agreed to pay me $250 for the use of the video in the program.

I won’t be able to add this income to my minimum wage challenge (my sister didn’t even let me entertain the idea), but I think it shows that there are a lot of unexpected ways you might be able to earn some extra money, even when it doesn’t appear that much will come of it. This money could be especially valuable to someone who is living on a severely restricted budget. While $250 isn’t a huge amount of money, but my guess is that most people would be happy if they unexpectedly earned it. It also has me thinking that I should devote a little more time to putting up videos I’ve taken because you never know when one might be worth something.

Despite not being able to add this to my challenge money, the last two days were still financially good for me. Both were no-spend days which I spent visiting with my mom. As I stated above, most of the time I was at the library in front of my computer trying to catch up on work. Starting tomorrow I have another house sitting gig for six days which should keep my minimum wage challenge expenses down as well.

Yesterday’s & Today’s Spending

Food: $0.00
Car: $0.00
Lodging: $0.00
Travel: $0.00
Health: $0.00
Misc: $0.00

Total: $0.00

Total Spending

Food: $313.93
Car: $597.00
Lodging: $176.31
Travel: $408.26
Health: $2042.65
Misc: $79.56

Total: $3617.91

The Wave and Home: Days 144 and 145

June 6, 2013 By Jeffrey Strain Leave a Comment

The last couple of days of the trip sure arrived quickly. One of the main reasons that I was invited to go on this trip as a guide was because my dad and his wife wanted to go and see The Wave (something that everyone should place on their bucket list).

The problem is that getting the permit to see The Wave is quite difficult, especially when the summer season arrives. The national park service only gives out 20 permits to go per day. 10 of those are given away online months in advance with usually hundreds of people vying for the 10 spots. The other 10 are given away at a lottery at the park service building in Kanab, UT each morning for the next day. The chances of winning depend on how many people show up each day, but there are usually quite a few this time of year. We knew that our chances were slim, but we decided to give it a try each morning and keep our fingers crossed.

The first day there were over 120 people who showed up and we were not picked. Day two there were over 100 and we were not picked again. Day three there were once again over 100 and again we failed to get picked again. Our final chance was day four and we were all surprised when only 68 people showed up (as were the national park staff wh said there hadn’t been less than 100 people for about a month). These were still not great odds, but much better than the previous days.

Eight spots were given away without our number coming up and then on the very last pick, our number was called. The only problem was that there were three of us and there were only 2 permit spots open, so one of us would not get a permit to go. Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I’ve taken friends to go and see The Wave in the past, and on two previous occasions the exact same thing happened. Our number was picked, but it was the last number of the day so one person had to sit out — and guess who that person ended up being? So for the third time, I would be sending people off to see one of the most beautiful places in the US while I wasn’t able to go.

While disappointing (I’m not sure if I’m the “luckiest” unlucky person, or the “unluckiest” lucky person, but one of those sure seem to fit when it comes to taking people to see this spot), there really wasn’t a question about who would sit out. Since I had already been before and they hadn’t, it made sense for them to go and since getting the permits is so difficult theses days, I wasn’t going to let them go to waste by not having any of us go. I also know that it’s much more likely that I will get a chance to see The Wave again in the future than most people because I love that area of the country and will be back to that area many times in the future. it was disappointing in that it would have been fun to go there with them, but then getting a chance to see it was a pretty amazing stroke of luck. So while the two of them headed off to The Wave, I decided to hike Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch again which is in the same general area.

Because the hike to The Wave is in the open and it can get hot, we decided to make an early go of it and were at the trailhead by 7:00 am. This made the hiking a lot cooler (at least on the way there), and it also meant that they returned from The Wave by early afternoon. From there we had to make our way back to Las Vegas since we had to leave the next day. We did, however, get going early enough that we had the chance to stop at Pipe Springs national monument, a place I had not been before.

Pipe Springs isn’t like most national monuments in the west. It’s really more like a historical park than a wide open hiking parks of Bryce and Zion. The main focus is on the history of the springs and how a fort was built over it to retain control of the only water in the area.

With the water source secure, building a settlement was possible:

Along with the history of the settlement, there is also a short 1.5 mile loop hike that was worth doing.

While Pipe Springs was definitely worth stopping to see since it was on our route, I’m not sure if I would go out of my way to see it again (I’m definitely more into the nature and wilderness national parks than the history of the parks system)

Spending was limited to the usual expenses on this trip. I left another $2 tip for the free breakfast our last morning in Kanab (there was no free breakfast at our hotel in Las Vegas) and left $5 tips for the maids at the hotel in both locations. I sent out another set of postcards to my nieces that which cost $1.99 (1.00 for three postcards and $0.33 for each of the stamps), so the total spending for the three days came to $13.99.

It was a great trip and I’m glad I had the opportunity to go on it, especially for as little as it ended up costing me toward the minimum wage challenge. Although I could have spent even less if I had decided to, I feel comfortable in leaving the tips that I did and I think I am still ahead of the game when it comes to the challenge. I now have a couple of days to rest before I have my next house sitting gig lined up.

Yesterday’s & Today’s Spending

Food: $2.00
Car: $0.00
Lodging: $10.00
Travel: $0.00
Health: $0.00
Misc: $1.99

Total: $13.99

Total Spending

Food: $313.93
Car: $597.00
Lodging: $176.31
Travel: $408.26
Health: $2042.65
Misc: $79.56

Total: $3617.91

Bryce Canyon and Zion: Day 142 and 143

June 3, 2013 By Jeffrey Strain 3 Comments

I really love the national parks in the west (unfortunately, I haven’t done much traveling to national parks in the east) and the beauty that they possess. Although I have visited them a number of times, they really do offer different perspectives depending on the time of year that you go and what the weather happens to be like the day that you visit.

We headed out to one of my favorite national parks as I continued to give my guided tour of the places I’d been in Utah allowing me to do some great traveling at minimum cost for the minimum wage challenge. While certainly not one of the biggest national parks, Bryce Canyon has such a unique landscape that it almost always surprises people the first time they see it. With its truly unique landscape, it’s almost as if you are looking at another world.

We planned to do the Navajo loop trail, but a section of it was closed due to rock slides. Instead we headed down into the Hoodoos planning an up and back hike. As we were hiking through the park, we came across an interesting sign that offered a freebie as part of the “I Hiked the Hoodoos” challenge (and you know I’m a sucker for freebies and challenges). This meant that we did a little more hiking than we had originally planned, but it was well worth it.

Hoodoos are those strange castle like formation that are all over the place at Bryce Canyon and there were three of these markers along trails that took you into these formations. If you found all of the markers, you could take your evidence that you were there (I used the photos on my camera) and get the following prize.

I hiked the hoodoos challenge pin Bryce Canyon

We also paid a visit to Zion National Park. I had wanted to take them on the Angel’s Landing hike, and had done a pretty good job of preparing them of what they could expect without scaring them too much that they would be afraid to tackle it, but that all changed when we got to the trailhead and there was a warning sign which said that people had died on the Angel’s Landing trail in the past:

Once Angel’s Landing was out, we made the decision to hike the upper and lower Emerald Pools trail since it also started at the same trailhead.

There were no unexpected expenses for the two days. My only costs were the $5 tip left for the maids each day, the $2 tip left to the breakfast servers, and the postcards and stamps that were sent to my nieces from both national parks which cost $4.98. Combined, the total spent over the two days was a total of $18.98. The purchasing of the 4 two-liter bottles of soda was a good call on my part — there has been quite a bit of driving to our destination including from the hotel to the two parks. Had I not done the pre-purchase and purchased cups as we stopped at gas stations along the way, I would have spent far in excess of what I did.

Yesterday’s and Today’s Spending

Food: $4.00
Car: $0.00
Lodging: $10.00
Travel: $0.00
Health: $0.00
Misc: $4.98

Total: $18.98

Total Spending

Food: $311.93
Car: $597.00
Lodging: $166.31
Travel: $408.26
Health: $2042.65
Misc: $77.57

Total: $3603.92

Free Breakfast Tipping: Day 141

June 2, 2013 By Jeffrey Strain 5 Comments

I decided as part of my vacation guide responsibilities that instead of heading to the well known national parks in the area like Zion and Bryce Canyon on the first day, I would instead take them on a slot canyon hike. Neither have ever done slot canyon hiking before and it’s pretty unforgettable the first time you do it. There are a lot of great slot canyons to hike in the area. One of my favorites is the Wire Pass trail which leads into Buckskin Gulch which is located in Vermilion Cliffs national monument. It’s a wonderful slot canyon hike because of the beautiful colors of the canyon walls and there are no need for ropes to do the hike (although there are some sections where you have to scramble up and down boulders). Here are a few photos from the hike:

Here is a short video of what it’s like hiking through the slot canyon:

It was definitely a wonderful day to hike the canyon since it was rather hot outside and the shade of the canyons kept us cool even during the hottest part of the day.

As for the financial aspects of the day, I had another tipping quandary to address today. The hotel we stayed at in Las Vegas didn’t come with a free breakfast, so we stopped and ate a meal while we were driving. The hotel we’re staying at in Kanab comes with a free breakfast each morning. I usually leave $2 for the breakfast workers who stock the food and keep the self-serve food area clean. Being on the minimum wage challenge, the question is should I be spending this money when it’s not necessary that I leave a tip?

Part of me says that being on a tight budget, I should be watching every penny and not spending any money where I don’t have to, but another part wants me to continue to do the things I have been doing in the past no matter what my financial situation. I find it much easier to deny myself than to take away small amounts that I usually budget for others knowing that even though they may be small amounts, they can have a large impact on the person who receives those tips. For much the same reasons that I decided to leave the $5 tip for the maids, I have decided to continue this tipping that I have done in the past to the free breakfast servers.

I also think that it’s currently easier for me to default in giving these tips since I’m not paying for the hotel rooms. If I was spending $65 a night for the hotel room and that was coming out of my budget each day, I think it would be more difficult to part with another $7 on top of that. It should be interesting to see what I decide to do when I take a trip and I’m paying for the hotel rooms as well for an extended period of time. What is your opinion on tipping the breakfast servers when you stay at a hotel which offers free breakfast as part of the hotel room price?

Today’s Spending

Food: $2.00
Car: $0.00
Lodging: $5.00
Travel: $0.00
Health: $0.00
Misc: $0.00

Total: $7.00

Total Spending

Food: $307.93
Car: $597.00
Lodging: $156.31
Travel: $408.26
Health: $2042.65
Misc: $72.59

Total: $3584.94

Hotel Tipping: Day 140

June 1, 2013 By Jeffrey Strain 5 Comments

The vacation guide gig started and today we left Las Vegas to drive to Utah where we will be spending most of this trip. On our way out, I suggested we make a stop at Valley of Fire state park (Nevada) which is someplace I think that anyone visiting the Las Vegas area should take a day to visit.

We also passed through Zion National Park on our way to our destination in Kanab, Utah. We didn’t have a whole lot of time with the previous stop at Valley of Fire, but one of my favorite short hikes there made sense since it was on our route and was only a couple of miles round trip. We decided to do the Canyon Overlook trail:

Canyon Overlook trail Zion national park

Some proof that I was actually there.

I also took a very short video of a section of the trail where a bridge needed to be constructed due to the steep cliff walls:

As we left the park, we also came across a herd of buffalo:

Overall it was a great first day even with all the driving and we went to a couple of places that I think that most people miss when visiting the Las Vegas area and in Zion national park.

So what did this cost me? As mentioned in my last post, I am a vacation guide on this trip so my hotels, travel and meals are being covered. That didn’t mean that the day was no-cost, and one of the costs might be a bit controversial as I am assuming it’s one that most people wouldn’t have paid. I know that there’s a possibility that I’m going to get some flack for this, especially while trying to live on a minimum wage since this is money that I didn’t have to spend. I will try to explain my reasoning and then anyone who wants to chime in to challenge me on it is free to do so.

I tip. I tip fairly well compared to most people I know. This is something that has evolved over time and it’s simply the way I feel on the subject. Truth be told, I hate tipping. Having lived 10+ years in Japan where tipping isn’t customary and service is usually superb, I could very easily rationalize that tipping is absolutely not necessary. I have come to believe, however, it’s the people who do the manual labor that work far harder physically than the vast majority of people for what ends up being the bare minimum of wages. I have always felt that no matter what your job, it’s vitally important and those who work hard should be rewarded for their work no matter what that work might be. Over the years for this reason, there are certain jobs that I tip. One of those are hotel maids.

I always tip $5 per night to the maids who clean up my room. It doesn’t matter if I’m in the cheapest hotel or a five-star hotel. I don’t do this because I’m messy (in fact, I would guess that I leave my room neater than 99% of people), but because the maids are probably one of the hardest working employees at any hotel and as explained above, don’t get paid a whole lot for their work. I’ve also seen how some people leave rooms, and no person deserves to have to clean up messes like that. By leaving my room as clean as possible and leaving a tip, I try to show that their job is appreciated by me.

I’ve had a lot of internal debates how I was going to handle this when it came to this challenge. Thus far, I have only stayed at hotels a couple of times so it really hasn’t been an issue, but with this week-long trip, it will be more of one. Not leaving a tip would be an easy way to save money as it isn’t a required payment, but in good consciousness I don’t feel right not paying it as I have come to regard the tip as a part of the bill when staying at a hotel. While I might change this stance if it looks like I may not succeed with the challenge, for now I am keeping this in place since that is what I usually do. Do you tip each day for maid service when staying at a hotel?

My spending for the day was $5.00 for the tip at the Las Vegas hotel and then another $4.27 for 4 two-little bottles of soda. I will be doing a lot of driving on this trip and although I have cut out soda in my everyday life, I do still drink it when I’m driving long distances. It made sense for me to buy the 4 two-liter bottles which were on sale for $0.99 each (but had to be purchased in a group of four) since these should last me the entire trip (if not longer). if I were to buy cups of soda at gas stations along the way, the cost would end up being much more. Since one two-liter bottle gets me 4 to 6 cups depending on size, and each cup at a gas station (or other convenience stop) costs over $1, I end up getting 12 – 16 free cups buying it this way. Yes, it would be better if I didn’t spend it at all, but since I know I will be doing so, it made sense to get the best value that I could.

Lastly, I purchased 3 postcards for my nieces, something that I refuse to stop doing even with this challenge. The cost of the postcards was $1.50 plus $0.99 in stamps to send them for a total cost of $2.49. That made my spending for the day come to $11.76.

Today’s Spending

Food: $4.27
Car: $0.00
Lodging: $5.00
Travel: $0.00
Health: $0.00
Misc: $2.49

Total: $11.76

Total Spending

Food: $305.93
Car: $597.00
Lodging: $151.31
Travel: $408.26
Health: $2042.65
Misc: $72.59

Total: $3577.94

Sister Not Happy I’m A Vacation Guide: Day 136 – 139

May 27, 2013 By Jeffrey Strain 5 Comments

After finding out the cost of the 90,000 mile car check-up, I decided to try to get a few more no-spend-days under my belt for the minimum wage challenge. While I did do a hike with a friend,

I mostly spent the days working on the computer (I know, boring, but not expensive). In addition I did drive out to visit my sister for an afternoon to see my youngest niece take part in her first dance performance (so cute!)

It was there that my sister found out that I landed a week-long vacation guide opportunity.

I’ve done a lot of traveling to state and national parks in the west and while I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, I do know more of those “secret” places than the average person. I was asked by my dad and his wife to come along on a trip as a guide for a week in Utah where my expenses would be paid (hotels, transportation, etc) in exchange for showing them some of the more interesting spots that I’ve been to in the area.

My sister instantly claimed that this is cheating because she feels that this offer is simply being made because they know that I am doing this challenge, so I should have to declare all the expenses (even though I’m not paying for them). I might be able to see her point if this was the first time for something like this to happen, but the fact is that I have been asked to do similar things in the past when there wasn’t any challenge involved, so I feel it’s perfectly legitimate for me to take advantage of it. For example, we did a Colorado River Grand Canyon rafting trip a couple of years ago that was arranged in a very similar manner.

over the last four days, the only expense I’ve had was buying a drink on the drive to visit my sister which put me back $1.09. I did go to the local coffee shop one day, but still had money on my card so there was no expense there. The other days I went to the library to work. There was no costs on my part for the hike, so for the four days, I came away with only spending slightly more than a dollar.

I expect the next week to be a little more expensive than the last few days, but not by a whole lot since most expenses will be paid for. it should be interesting to see how it turns out. So, what do you think? Is it fair for me not to count any of the expenses on this vacation guide trip?

Four Day’s Spending

Food: $1.09
Car: $0.00
Lodging: $0.00
Travel: $0.00
Health: $0.00
Misc: $0.00

Total: $1.09

Total Spending

Food: $301.66
Car: $597.00
Lodging: $146.31
Travel: $408.26
Health: $2042.65
Misc: $70.10

Total: $3566.18