Learning how to monetize in dystopia is...weird
It's weird because when I said "I am the niche" in 2006, I didn't think nearly 20 years later I'd mean that in the most literal of sense.
In 1998, I was that kid that clipped coupons with mom. Mom gamified stacking coupons to make Kool-Aid cheaper, and to rip all the squares off people's packets if they weren't going to use them. I got the inflatable chair.
In 2008, the Kool-Aid rewards turned into Swagbucks. I got a shirt and hat that got stolen by kids who weren't as savvy at getting points to their accounts. Didn't matter, I got the Visa gift card I was aiming for before forgetting about the site.
2010's Extreme Couponing had become the special interest of my mom and once again, we were clipping coupons. But this time it was so we'd have money to spend on fresh foods. We were clipping for the dinner table.
So I learned to monetize my skills as a digital freelancer, until the thought of using Krita and Canva for free was detestable. Still is, if I'm honest. I get close to a big project and I freeze, then I go back to rebating life.
And now here I be, in 2026. I'm looking at the grown up version Kool-Aid stickers.
Only it's no longer rewards from overdosing on dyed sugar, but simple mundane habits that are no longer just about me making digital printables to sell on Etsy and Ko-fi.
"I've monetized breathing." - My thoughts this morning
Honeygain is for sharing background data for pennies. I've gotten to the $20 mark without really thinking about it after a year.
Slice Ads on my work browser since ads show up while browsing around Google for new.
I actually use my Microsoft account at home and phone for Bing rewards, I'm almost at a $25 gift card to their store just for being a chronic finder of rabbit holes.
I play both on Freecash and JustPlay, because I was already playing phone games anyways. Might as well make the habit pay me something while I run a cute Froggy Kitchen skinned typhoon simulator or solve Mahjong.
Moneywalk gives me $5 in Amazon gift card codes every 6,100 steps. I walk that almost daily, so I guess I'll be getting new shoes I keep denying myself; just from drinking water, smiling at my phone like a moron, and dealing with:
ALL THE ADS.
I don't know where I was going with this, but it was something I noticed when I heard that ding on my phone that reminded me I gamified my live so much, that even my sleeping has been monetized.
Weird.