Do you ever code for yourself? To solve your own problems?

A lot of satisfaction comes out of being able to solve your own problems when it comes to software.

The real world doesn’t allow you to create matter out of thin air, move things from one place to another with no effort. If you have a backache you must go to the pharmacist and get medicine.

If you know how to create software, you can scratch your own itches. If you can’t afford a particular software but have plenty of time, you can sit down and create it on your own. Theoretically. You may not be able to create your own Microsoft Word 2007 but this works for many real world problems.

WP Responder is one such itch that I had. I couldn’t buy Aweber’s services because it either costed too much or because they didn’t have a subscribe via PayPal option. Just then I graduated from college and had a lot of time on my hands. I got to work on creating a wordpress plugin that will both deliver blog posts and allow me to have a email newsletter.

I needed to create a membership site without spending $180s on a software like Amember. I went to work on Drupal and found the exact set of modules and their configurations that will let me create a paid membership website with unlimited levels.

There will come a time when trying to solve your own problem will start to cost more than buying a readymade solution. Until you get there leverage your programming skills to solve your own problems and get to the next level of financial independence.