The $200 Challenge
Tags: freelancing, programming, challenge, money
Published: 2019-09-10 14:43:00

---
title: The $200 Challenge
published: true
description: How I used my coding skills to make $200 in 4 days (or not)
tags: freelancing, programming, challenge, money
cover_image: https://www.florin-pop.com/static/fd3b6fae9b0d8adb6b8f769972ffef29/ff993/the-%24200-challenge.png
canonical_url: https://www.florin-pop.com/blog/2019/09/the-$200-challenge/
---

*Originally posted on [florin-pop.com](https://www.florin-pop.com/blog/2019/09/the-$200-challenge/)*

Some of you might know, last week I created a challenge for myself together with my wife: I had to make **$200** 💰 in 4 days using my programming skills.

I started by having 0 projects / 0 clients, so I had to find some gigs to finish this challenge, and I had to do it quickly. 😅

The first thing I did was to post on Social Media ([Facebook](https://facebook.com/florinpop17) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/florinpop1705)) that I’m participating in this challenge and it turned out to be the best thing I did as people started to contact me right away.

Also, many cheered me along the way, which gave me the required motivation and will power to keep going. If you are one of them, Thank you! 🙏

## The warm-up

Besides getting some new gigs, I was thinking of makings some extra $ from:

- my blog via Ads
- my [Patreon](https://patreon.com/florinpop17) page
- writing articles for publications (this was my "secret" weapon as it was supposed to pay more than $200 per article, but I haven't used it 😜)

**Note**: below you'll find some name abbreviations as I didn't want to use the client's real name - privacy is important, right? 😉

## Day 1

I spent most of my time setting up some ads on my blog. If you ask me now, I'll say that it was a little bit of a "time waster" as I ran into some bugs and I ended up spending more time working on this on Day 2 also... 👎

Although, on the long term it turned out to be a good investment, it didn't bring in so much $ for the challenge.

I also got contacted by **4 people** on Day 1 - **RC**, **ID**, **CG** and **MI**.

**RC** was quite helpful. He just wanted to help me finish this challenge and he asked me if I could send him a copy of my [Timeline](/timeline) but with his data in it.

**ID** wanted a copy of a WordPress website. It was a little too complex and the requirements weren't quite clear so I decided to let this gig pass. Sorry!

**CG** wanted a presentation website. She asked for my quote and later on told me that she found someone cheaper. Good job! 😃

**MI** wanted some customization on top of a Google Form. I took this project, but unfortunately I needed more than 4 days to finish it so I was pass the Challenge deadline.

At the end of the Day 1 I made a total of: **$0**.

## Day 2

Spent more time on those ads, but I finally made them work. Yey!

And also... New clients! 👍

**CG** contacted me to help him fix a Chrome Extension. It was a pretty nice gig and I ended up making $75 for it.

Another client, **TM** wanted me to look over his website as he was getting ready for some interviews. We discussed for a while and he gave me $20 for the time spent.

I also got contacted by a company to write an article for them, but I didn't manage to do it within the 4 days.

At the end of the Day 2 I made a total of: **$95**.

## Day 3

I do not work on Saturdays as it is the Sabbath, so no extra money were made in Day 3.

## Day 4

I finished the project for **RC** (from Day 1), and made another **$20**.

I spent most of this day looking on Upwork for some extra gigs, and finally at the end of the day I got a client, **JH**. He needed some help with a project built with ReactJS. The project was quite easy so I quoted $30 / hour. Ended up working 1.5 hours on this project in Day 4, making a total of $45.

Also, the ads I've been working on made around **$8** in these 4 days.

At the end of the Day 4 I made a total of: **$168**.

## Day 5

I know... 4 days were over and I haven't accomplished my challenge, but... there is a but 😃. Considering that I haven't worked on Day 3, I decided to give myself one more day (a total of 4 working days). Sounds fair, right? 😏

If it doesn't, well... it's my challenge and I can change the rules. 😆

Anyway...

I had some extra work to do on the ReactJS project for **JH**. Worked 2.33 hours on the project (2 hours and 20 minutes) and made a total of: **$70**.

So I did it! I made **$238** in 4 working days with no prior planning.

![Yes](https://media.giphy.com/media/l44Q6Etd5kdSGttXa/giphy.gif)

## Conclusion

I met new people, made new friends, worked on new fun projects - overall it was an awesome experience! I love challenges, and this challenge was exactly what I needed to get back in business after almost a month of vacation.

I want to thank all of those who participated! 🙏

What should I do next? Maybe a $500 in 3 days Challenge? 😝

Also, let me know if you enjoyed this challenge! Maybe you could start your own - that would be fun! 😃