How Do You Feel About Getting Paid For Your Time?

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I seem to be the only person on WP that asks about the possibility of monetary compensation for my time spent participating in various studies and surveys. I've often wondered if this attitude is what sets successful people in general from unsuccessful people.

If someone asks you to do something, do you do it right away? Do you try to negotiate a financial quid-pro-quo? Something in between?

(No ... I won't pay you for your time )

Depends what the thing is.

In general, if I do something that requires effort, I'd like some sort of financial reward. But don't get me wrong, if it's volunteering for a charity or whatever, I'll be happy to do it for free.

I don't mind volunteering to help, and I don't expect to get paid if I do. But when someone asks for my help - if it is going to take more time and effort than, say, typing this post - then I'll expect to be compensated ... even if it's only some home-made cookies or something like that.

Well no one is forceing anyone to do anything on this site, if a survey is too much work then just dont do it, I dont realy fill every survey I see, personaly I have a bit of an anxciousty of filling in a form incorectly so I don't do a lot.

Generally, if I'm going to do something for someone, I don't expect compensation if it's a menial task. I've had people try to give me money for stuff, which I usually decline.

I just want to do good ...

For the sake of being able to hold it over their head later

That is my other motive for doing certain things aswell.

For me it's an issue of ego. Nothing I do is really worth anything, therefore I can't really justify asking to be compensated for anything I do.
My "time" (much less whatever else I bring to the table) isn't worth diddly.
I volunteer on the average of 20 hours per month now.

I only do surveys that are either paid for or have a "win a prize" option

although I do political surveys for free because they are paid for by the government and I see it as a chance to show my total disapproval then there's this market research company that calls me every now and then with questions about products. I agree to do it and then I tell them that they all suck (it's never products that I use anyway).

the charity people who try to stop me on the street I don't even acknowledge the existence of, and if they say "would you like to help the kids?" I say "no, I hate kids" (I don't really, but it's fun to see how people react).

but I guess if a random stranger asked for help and adressed me directly and looked distressed I would probably go and help them.

The way the first sentence was worded, it sounded like there wasn't any real possibility of renumeration (i.e, a 'favor')

Thinking in terms of money has never come naturally to me. It's hard to explain. In general, I don't feel much, if any, sense of attachment to the world around me. That means I generally don't think in terms of material goods and ownership and such - I just think of my needs and desires at the given moment.

I think that as a consequence of this mentality (which it seems I was born with), I spend very little time thinking about money, even though in a logical sense, I understand its role in society and the lives of individuals . . .

When I need a job, the first thought that comes to mind is, "What job can I get most easily and start soonest?" not "How much does it pay?" But I've been working on this, trying to look out for my own best interest.

I didn't even know you were supposed to negotiate about how much you're being paid until I was 28 when a friend explained it to me. He had been at the same job for 12 years, liked the job, got along well with everyone he worked with.

So I was surprised when he told me that every year, at the busiest time of year, he has a talk with his boss in which he says, "Raise my rate of pay from ___ to ___ or else I'll walk out right now and never work for you again." He said this is standard practice. I have asked around and been told that yes, this is the standard way to ask for a raise. But I have yet to have the courage to try it myself - just doesn't come naturally to me, like I said.

I've always called myself a "minimalist" because I always make essentially as little money as possible, work as little as possible, spend as little as possible, and focus on parts of life that do not involve monetary transactions. It's amazing how you can survive on next to nothing if you're resourceful enough, and how much fun stuff there is to do that requires no money - only a certain attitude, if that.

And, like I said, I've been this way my whole life; it's the way my brain works, not some "belief system" or "morality" or whatever one might call it.

My apologies for writing a long post, but I'm curious as to what you think of this, Fnord, as it seems strikingly different from your own way of thinking, if I understand correctly.

It depends entirely on the circumstances with me. If the stranger is in need of personal help, for example their car has broken down in the middle of nowhere I would let them use my mobile to call for a recovery vehicle and I would not expect any payment, but most people would probably offer to pay for the call. However if it is someone wanting money off me for a collection then they are likely to get a cold response.

Regarding surveys it depends on my mood, I like to have a moan about things like anyone else, but I loath telephone surveys. Someone phoned me yesterday with one and I just hung up.

I definitely do not think "what is in this for me", sometimes people need help so I help because it seems like the right thing to do. Similarly people sometimes help me for similarly altruistic reasons.

A few weeks ago while driving into town there was a cow walking in the road, while this is a country lane some people drive too fast and there were a number of blind bends, so I popped into a nearby property to alert *somebody* in the hope they knew the farmer who owned the adjacent fields from where the cow had likely escaped. He said he would phone the farmer. Problem solved. Had I not taken this action, with no benefit for myself other than delaying my journey, the return journey could easily been past an ambulance, a car wreck and a large dead animal. At no time did I think of any financial or other reimbursement. It was just the right thing to do.

The same.... Just slightly more than the post thing...

Well, if there's money involved, hell yeah I'll help ya!

I was in Tesco this morning and a lady stopped me and asked me to hand her something from the top shelf (this happens quite a bit for some reason). So, being an English gentleman, I duly obliged. Then I thought of this thread, Fnord. I was wondering what recompense I should have negotiated before helping the lady out. Any suggestions? Would it have been appropriate to accept, shall we say, personal services, or do you think it was a cash-only type transaction?

Sounds like something out of a Leil Lowndes book...

Why bother answering the question then?