In the late 1980s and early 1990s when I was a young teen growing up in far North Austin, it was a popular custom for many boys in the neighborhood to assemble at the local Stop-N-Go after school on a regular basis for some Grand Champion level tournaments in Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat. The collective insistence of our mothers and fathers to get out of the house, get some exercise, and refrain from playing NES or Sega on the television only led us to seek out more video games at the convenience store down the road. Much allowance and lunch money was spent as well as hours that should have been devoted to homework among the 8 or 9 regular boys in attendance, often challenging each other to 'Best of 5' matches. I myself played Dhalsim and SubZero, and not very well, so I rarely ever made it to the 5th match. The store workers frequently kicked us out for the day only to have us return when they weren't working the counter anymore if not the next day.
There is something about that which has been lost in the present day. While people can today download the latest games on Steam or PSN or in the app store on your smartphone, you can't just find arcade games in stores and restaurants like you used to be able to. And so the fun of a spontaneous 8 or 10 person multiplayer video game tournament has been confined to places like bars, pool halls, Pinballz or Dave&Busters.
But in truth it was that ubiquity of arcade video games, how you could find them in any old 7-11 or Laundromat, which is what killed the original arcades of the early 1980s before the
Great Crash of 1983 when home video game consoles started to catch up to what you saw in the arcade.
I was born in the mid 1970s so I missed out on Pong. I was kindergarten age when the
Golden Age of Arcade Games took place in the early 1980s. There used to be a place called Skateworld on Anderson Mill Road that was primarily for roller skating but had a respectable arcade in its own right. It was there that I honed my skills on the original Tron, Pac Man, Galaga, Pole Position, Defender, and so many others. In the 1980s I remember visiting all the same mall arcades as others in my age group. There was Aladdin's Castle in Barton Creek Mall, The Gold Mine in Highland, and another Gold Mine in Northcross which was eventually renamed Tilt. Westgate Mall also had an arcade but being a north austin kid I never went there until later in the mid 1990s. There were also places like Malibu Grand Prix and Showbiz Pizza and Chuck-E-Cheeze, all of which had fairly large arcades for kids which were the secondary attraction.
If you're of a certain age you will remember Einsteins and LeFun on the Drag. They were there for a few decades going back way before the Slacker era. Lesser known is that the UT Student Union basement used to have an arcade that was comparable to either or both of those places. Back in the pre-9/11 days it was much easier to sneak in if you even vaguely looked like you could be a UT student.
But there was another place I was too young to have experienced called Smitty's up further north on 183 at Lake Creek in the early 1980s. I never got to go there but I always heard about it from older kids at the time. It was supposed to have been two stories of wall to wall games with a small snack bar. I guess at the time it served a mostly older teen crowd from Westwood High School and for that reason younger kids my age weren't having birthday parties there. It wasn't around very long, just a few years during the Golden Age of Arcades.
It is with almost-forgotten early arcades like that in mind that I wanted to share with y'all some examples of places from The Golden Age of the Video Arcade in Austin using some old Statesman articles I've found. Maybe someone of a certain age on here will remember them. I was curious what they were like, having missed out by being slightly too young to have experienced most of them first hand. I also wanted to see the original reaction to them in the press. I had a feeling there was some pushback from school/parent/civic groups on these facilities showing up in neighborhood strip malls or next to schools, and I was right to suspect. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First let's list off some places of interest. Be sure to speak up if you remember going to any of these, even if it was just for some other kid's birthday party. Unfortunately some of the only mentions about a place are reports of a crime being committed there, such as our first few examples.
Forgotten Arcade #1 Fun House/Play Time Arcade -
2820 Guadalupe June 15, 1975 ARCADE ENTHUSIASM
A gang fight involving 20 30 people erupted early Saturday morning in front of an arcade on Guadalupe Street. The owner of the Fun House Arcade at 282J Guadalupe told police pool cues, lug wrenches, fists and a shotgun were displayed during the flurry. Police are unsure what started the fisticuffs, but one witness at the scene said it pitted Chicanos against Anglos. During the fight the owner of the arcade said a green car stopped at the side of the arcade and witnesses reported the barrel of a shotgun sticking out. The crowd wisely scattered and only a 23-year-old man was left lying on the ground. He told police he doesn't know what happened.
March 3, 1976 ARCADE ROBBED
A former employee of Play Time Arcade, 2820 Guadalupe, was charged Tuesday in connection with the Tuesday afternoon robbery of his former business. Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of Ronnie Magee, 22, of 1009 Aggie Lane, Apt. 306. Arcade attendant Sam Garner said he had played pool with the suspect an hour before the robbery. He told police the man had been fired from the business two weeks earlier. Police said a man walked in the arcade about 2:45 p m. with a blue steel pistol and took $180. Magee is charged with first degree aggravated robbery. Bond was set on the charge at $15,000.
First it was called Fun House and then renamed Play Time a year later. I'm not sure what kind of arcade games beyond Pong and maybe Asteroids they could have had at this place. The peak of the Pinball craze was supposed to be around 1979, so they might have had a few pinball machines as well. A quick search of youtube will show you a few examples of 1976 video games like
Death Race. The location is next to Ken's Donuts where PokeBowl is today where the old Baskin Robbins location was for many years.
Forgotten Arcade #2 Green Goth -
1121 Springdale Road May 15, 1984 A 23-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to a January 1983 murder in East Austin and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Jim Crowell Jr. of Austin admitted shooting 17-year-old Anthony Rodriguez in the chest with a shotgun after the two argued outside the Green Goth, a games arcade at 1121 Springdale Road, on Jan. 23, 1983. Crowell had argued with Rodriguez and a friend of Rodriguez at the arcade, police said. Crowell then went to his house, got a shotgun and returned to the arcade, witnesses said. When the two friends left the arcade, Rodriguez was shot Several weeks ago Crowell had reached a plea bargain with prosecutors for an eight-year prison term, but District Judge Bob Perkins would not accept the sentence, saying it was shorter than sentences in similar cases. After further plea bargaining, Crowell accepted the 15-year prison sentence.
I can't find anything else on Green Goth except reports about this incident with a murder there. There is at least
one other report from 1983 around the time of Crowell's arrest that also refer to it as an arcade but reports the manager said the argument started over a game of pool. It's possible this place might have been more known for pool.
Forgotten Arcades #3 & #4 Games, Etc. -
1302 S. First St Muther's Arcade -
2532 Guadalupe St August 23, 1983 Losing the magic touch - Video Arcades have trouble winning the money game
It was going to be so easy for Lawrence Villegas, a video game junkie who thought he could make a fast buck by opening up an arcade where kids could plunk down an endless supply of quarters to play Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Asteroids. Villegas got together with a few friends, purchased about 30 video games and opened Games, Etc. at 1302 S. First St in 1980. .,--.... For a while, things, went great Kids waited in line to spend their money to drive race cars, slay dragons and save the universe.
AT THE BEGINNING of 1982, however, the bottom fell out, and Villegas' revenues fell from $400 a week to $25. Today, Games, Etc. is vacant Villegas, 30, who is now working for his parents at Tony's Tortilla Factory, hasn't decided what he'll do with the building. "I was hooked on Asteroids, and I opened the business to get other people hooked, too," Villegas said. "But people started getting bored, and it wasn't worth keeping the place open. In the end, I sold some machines for so little it made me sick."
VILLEGAS ISNT the only video game operator to experience hard times, video game manufacturers and distributors 'It used to be fairly common to get $300 a week from a machine. Now we rarely get more than $100 .
Pac-Man's a lost cause. Six months ago, you could resell a Pac-Man machine for $1,600. Now, you're lucky to get $950 if you can find a buyer." Ronnie Roark says. In the past year, business has dropped 25 percent to 65 percent throughout the country, they say. Most predict business will get even worse before the market stabilizes. Video game manufacturers and operators say there are several reasons for the sharp and rapid decline: Many video games can now be played at home on television, so there's no reason to go to an arcade. The novelty of video games has worn off. It has been more than a decade since the first ones hit the market The decline can be traced directly to oversaturation or the market arcade owners say. The number of games in Austin has quadrupled since 1981, and it's not uncommon to see them in coin-operated laundries, convenience stores and restaurants.
WITH SO MANY games to choose from, local operators say, Austinites be came bored. Arcades still take in thousands of dollars each week, but managers and owners say most of the money is going to a select group of newer games, while dozens of others sit idle.
"After awhile, they all seem the same," said Dan Moyed, 22, as he relaxed at Muther's Arcade at 2532 Guadalupe St "You get to know what the game is going to do before it does. You can play without even thinking about it" Arcade owners say that that, in a nutshell, is why the market is stagnating.
IN THE PAST 18 months, Ronnie Roark, owner of the Back Room at 2015 E. Riverside Drive, said his video business has dropped 65 to 75 percent Roark, . who supplied about 160 video games to several Austin bars and arcades, said the instant success of the games is what led to their demise. "The technology is not keeping up with people's demand for change," said Roark, who bought his first video game in 1972. "The average game is popular for two or three months. We're sending back games that are less than five months old."
Roark said the market began dropping in March 1982 and has been declining steadily ever since. "The drop started before University of Texas students left for the summer in 1982," Roark said. "We expected a 25 percent drop in business, and we got that, and more. It's never really picked up since then. - "It used to be fairly common to get $300 a week from a machine. Now we rarely get more than $100. 1 was shocked when I looked over my books and saw how much things had dropped."
TO COMBAT THE slump, Roark said, he and some arcade owners last year cut the price of playing. Even that didn't help, he said. Old favorites, such as Pac-Man, which once took in hundreds of dollars each week, he said, now make less than $3 each. "Pac-Man's a lost cause," he said. "Six months ago, you could resell a Pac-Man machine for $1,600. Now, you're lucky to get $950 if you can find a buyer." Hardest hit by the slump are the owners of the machines, who pay $3,500 to $5,000 for new products and split the proceeds with the businesses that house them.
SALEM JOSEPH, owner of Austin Amusement and Vending Co., said his business is off 40 percent in the past year. Worse yet, some of his customers began returning their machines, and he's having a hard time putting them back in service. "Two years ago, a machine would generate enough money to pay for itself in six months,' said Joseph, who supplies about 250 games to arcades. "Now that same machine takes 18 months to pay for itself." As a result, Joseph said, he'll buy fewer than 15 new machines this year, down from the 30 to 50 he used to buy. And about 50 machines are sitting idle in his warehouse.
"I get calls every day from people who want to sell me their machines," Joseph said. "But I can't buy them. The manufacturers won't buy them from me." ARCADE OWNERS and game manufacturers hope the advent of laser disc video games will buoy the market Don Osborne, vice president of marketing for Atari, one of the largest manufacturers of video games, said he expects laser disc games to bring a 25 percent increase in revenues next year. The new games are programmed to give players choices that may affect the outcome of the game, Os borne said. "Like the record and movie industries, the video game industry is dependent on products that stimulate the imagination," Osborne said "One of the reasons we're in a valley is that we weren't coming up with those kinds of products."
THE FIRST of the laser dis games, Dragonslayer and Star Wan hit the market about two months ago. Noel Kerns, assistant manager of The Gold Mine Arcade in Northcross Mall, says the new games are responsible for a $l,000-a-week increase in revenues. Still, Kerns said, the Gold Mine' total sales are down 20 percent iron last summer. However, he remain optimistic about the future of the video game industry. "Where else can you come out of the rain and drive a Formula One race car or save the universe?" hi asked.
Others aren't so optimistic. Roark predicted the slump will force half of all operators out of business and will last two more years. "Right now, we've got a great sup ply and almost no demand," Roark said. "That's going to have to change before things get- significantly better."
Well there is a lot to take from that long article, among other things, that the author confused "Dragonslayer" with
"Dragon's Lair". I lol'd.
Anyone who has been to Emo's East, formerly known as The Back Room, knows they have arcade games and pool, but it's mostly closed when there isn't a show. That shouldn't count as an arcade, even though the former owner
Ronnie Roark was apparently one of the top suppliers of cabinet games to the area during the Golden Era.
Any pool hall probably had a few arcade games at the time, too, but that's not the same as being an arcade.
We also learn from the same article of two forgotten arcades: Muthers at 2522 Guadalupe where today there is a Mediterranean food restaurant, and another called Games, Etc. at 1302 S.First that today is the site of an El Mercado restaurant. But the article is mostly about showing us how bad the effects were from the crash at the end of the Golden Era. It was very hard for the early arcades to survive with increasing competition from home game consoles and personal computers, and the proliferation of the games into stores and restaurants.
Forgotten Arcades #5 #6 & #7 Computer Madness -
2414 S. Lamar Blvd. Electronic Encounters -
1701 W Ben White Blvd (Southwood Mall)
The Outer Limits Amusements Center -
1409 W. Oltorf March 4, 1982 'Quartermania' stalks South Austin
School officials, parents worried about effects of video games
A fear Is haunting the video game business. "We call it 'quartermania.' That's fear of running out of quarters," said Steve Stackable, co-owner of Computer Madness, a video game and foosball arcade at 2414 S. Lamar Blvd. The "quartermania" fear extends to South Austin households and schools, as well. There it's a fear of students running out of lunch money and classes to play the games. Local school officials and Austin police are monitoring the craze. They're concerned that computer hotspots could become undesirable "hangouts" for students, or that truancy could increase because students (high-school age and younger) will skip school to defend their galaxies against The Tempest.
So far police fears have not been substantiated. Department spokesmen say that although more than half the burglaries in the city are committed by juveniles during the daytime, they know of no connection between the break-ins and kids trying to feed their video habit But school and parental worries about misspent time and money continue. The public outcry in September 1980 against proposals to put electronic game arcades near two South Austin schools helped persuade city officials to reject the applications. One proposed location was near Barton Hills Elementary School. The other was South Ridge Plaza at William Cannon Drive and South First Street across from Bedlchek Junior High School.
Bedichek principal B.G. Henry said he spoke against the arcade because "of the potential attraction it had for our kids. I personally feel kids are so drawn to these things, that It might encourage them to leave the school building and play hookey. Those things have so much compulsion, kids are drawn to them like a magnet Kids can get addicted to them and throw away money, maybe their lunch money. I'm not against the video games. They may be beneficial with eye-hand coordination or even with mathematics, but when you mix the video games during school hours and near school buildings, you might be asking for problems you don't need."
A contingent from nearby Pleasant Hill Elementary School joined Bedichek in the fight back in 1980, although principal Kay Beyer said she received her first formal call about the games last Week from a mother complaining that her child was spending lunch money on them. Beyer added that no truancy problems have been related to video game-playing at a nearby 7-11 store. Allen Poehl, amusement game coordinator for Austin's 7-11 stores, said company policy rules out any game-playing by school-age youth during school hours. Fulmore Junior High principal Bill Armentrout said he is working closely with operators of a nearby 7-1 1 store to make sure their policy is enforced.
The convenience store itself, and not necessarily the video games, is a drawing card for older students and drop-outs, Armentrout said. Porter Junior High principal Marjorie Ball said that while video games aren't a big cause of truancy, "the money (spent on the games) is a big factor." Ball said she has made arrangements with nearby businesses to call the school it students are playing the games during school hours. "My concern is that kids are basically unsupervised, especially at the 24-hour grocery stores. That's a late hour for kids to be out. I would like to see them (games) unplugged at 10 p.m.," adds Joslin Elementary principal Wayne Rider.
Several proprietors of video game hot-spots say they sympathize with the concerns of parents and school officials. No one under 18 is admitted without a parent to Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre at 4211 S. Lamar. That rule, says night manager David Dunagan, "keeps it from being a high school hangout. This is a family place." Jerry Zollar, owner of J.J. Subs in West Wood Shopping Center on Bee Cave Road, rewards the A's on the report cards of Eanes school district students with free video games. "It's kind of a community thing we do in a different way. I've heard from both teachers and parents . . . they thought this was a good idea," said Zollar.
Electronic Encounters in Southwood Mall last year was renovated into a brightly lit arcade. "We're trying to get away from the dark, barroom-type place. We want this to be a place for family entertainment We won't let kids stay here during school hours without a written note from their parents, and we're pretty strict about that," said manager Kelly Roberts. Joyce Houston, who manages The Outer Limits amusements center at 1409 W. Oltorf St. along with her husband, said, "I wouldn't let my children go into some of the arcades I've visited. I'm a concerned parent, too. We wanted a place where the whole family could come and enjoy themselves."
Well you can see which way the tone of all these articles is going. There were some crimes committed at some arcades but all of them tended to have a negative reputation for various reasons. Parents and teachers were very skeptical of the arcades being in the neighborhoods to the point of petitioning the City Government to restrict them. Three arcades are mentioned besides Chuck-E-Cheese. Electronic Encounters in Southwood Mall, The Outer Limits amusements center at 1409 W. Oltorf, and Computer Madness, a "video game and foosball arcade" at 2414 S. Lamar Blvd.
Forgotten Arcade #8 Smitty's Galaxy of Games - Lake Creek Parkway February 25, 1982 Arcades fighting negative image
Video games have swept across America, and Williamson and Travis counties have not been immune. In a two-part series, Neighbor examines the effects the coin-operated machines have had on suburban and small-town life.
Cities have outlawed them, religious leaders have denounced them and distraught mothers have lost countless children to their voracious appetites. And still they march on, stronger and more numerous than before. A new disease? Maybe. A wave of invading aliens from outer space? On occasion. A new type of addiction? Certainly. The culprit? Video games. Although the electronic game explosion has been mushrooming throughout the nation's urban areas for the past few years, its rippling effects have just recently been felt in the suburban fringes of North Austin and Williamson County.
In the past year, at least seven arcades armed with dozens of neon quarter-snatchers have sprung up to lure teens with thundering noises and thousands of flashing seek-and-destroy commands. Critics say arcades are dens of iniquity where children fall prey to the evils of gambling. But arcade owners say something entirely different. "Everybody fights them (arcades), they think they are a haven for drug addicts. It's just not true," said Larry Grant of Austin, who opened Eagle's Nest Fun and Games on North Austin Avenue in Georgetown last September. "These kids are great" Grant said the gameroom "gives teenagers a place to come. Some only play the games and some only talk.
In Georgetown, if you're from the high school, this is it." He said he's had very few disturbances, and asks "undesirables" to leave. "We've had a couple of rowdies. That's why I don't have any pool tables they tend to attract that type of crowd," Grant said.
Providing a place for teens to congregate was also the reason behind Ron and Carol Smith's decision to open Smitty's Galaxy of Games on Lake Creek Parkway at the entrance to Anderson Mill. "We have three teenage sons, and as soon as the oldest could drive, it became immediately apparent that there was no place to go around here," said Ron, an IBM employee who lives in Spicewood at Balcones. "This prompted us to want to open something." The business, which opened in August, has been a huge success with both parents and youngsters. "Hundreds of parents have come to check out our establishment before allowing their children to come, and what they see is a clean, safe environment managed by adults and parents," Ron said. "We've developed an outstanding rapport with the community." Video arcades "have a reputation that we have to fight," said Carol.
Kathy McCoy of Georgetown, who last October opened Krazy Korner on Willis Street in Leander, agrees. "We've got a real good group of kids," she said. "There's no violence, no nothing. Parents can always find their kids at Krazy Korner."
While all the arcade owners contacted reported that business is healthy, if not necessarily lucrative, it's not as easy for video entrepreneurs to turn a profit as one might imagine. A sizeable investment is required. Ron Smith paid between $2,800 and $5,000 for each of the 30 electronic diversions at his gameroom.
Grant said his average video game grosses about $50 a week, and his "absolute worst" game, Armor Attack, only $20 a week. The top machines (Defender and Pac-Man) can suck in an easy $125 a week. That's a lot of quarters, 500 to be exact but the Eagle's Nest and Krazy Korner pass half of them on to Neelley Vending Company of Austin which rents them their machines. "At 25 cents a shot, it takes an awful lot of people to pay the bills," said Tom Hatfield, district manager for Neelley.
He added that an owner's personality and the arcade's location can make or break the venture. The game parlor must be run "by an understanding person, someone with patience," Hatfield said. "They cannot be too demanding on the kids, yet they can't let them run all over them." And they must be located in a spot "with lots of foot traffic," such as a shopping center or near a good restaurant, he said. "And being close to a school really helps." "Video games are going to be here permanently, but we're going to see some operations not going because of the competition," which includes machines in virtually every convenience store and supermarket, Hatfield said.
This article talks about three arcades. One in Georgetown called Eagles Nest, another in Leander called Krazy Korner, and a third called Smitty's Galaxy of Games on Lake Creek Parkway "on the fringes of North Austin". This is the one I remember the older kids talking about when I was a little kid. There was once a movie theater across the street from the Westwood High School football stadium and behind that was Smitty's. Today I think the building was bulldozed long ago and the space is part of the expanded onramp to 183 today. Eventually another unrelated arcade was built next to the theater that became Alamo Lakeline. It was another site of some unrecorded epic Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat tournaments in the 90s.
But the article written before the end of the Golden Era tell us much about the pushback I was talking about earlier. Early arcades were seen as "dirty" places in some circles, and the owners of the arcades in Williamson County had to stress how "clean" their establishments were.
This other article from a couple of weeks later tells of how area school officials weren't worried about video games and tells us more arcades in Round Rock and Cedar Park. Apparently the end of the golden age lasted a bit longer than usual in this area.
At some point in the next few years the bubble burst, and places like Smitty's were gone by the late 80s. But the distributors quoted earlier were right that arcade games weren't going completely away. In the mid 1980s
LeFun opened up next in the Scientology building at 2200 Guadalupe on the drag. Down a few doors past what used be a coffee shop and a CVS was
Einsteins Arcade. Both of those survived into the 21st century. I remember the last time I was at Einsteins I got my ass beat in Tekken by a kid half my age. heheh
That's all for today. There were no Bonus Pics in the UT archive of arcades (other than the classical
architectural definition). I wanted to pass on some Bonus newspaper articles (remember to click and zoom in with the buttons on the right to read) about Austin arcades anyway but first a small story.
I mentioned earlier the secret of the UT Student Union. I have no idea what it looks like now but in the 90s there was a sizable arcade in with the bowling alley in the basement. Back in 1994 when I used to sneak in, they featured this bizarre early attempt at virtual reality games. I found an old Michael Barnes Statesman article about it dated
February 11, 1994. Some highlights:
Hundreds of students and curiosity-seekers lined up at the University of Texas Union to play three to five minutes of Dactyl Nightmare, Flying Aces or V-Tol, three-dimensional games from Kramer Entertainment. Nasty weather delayed the unloading of four huge trunks containing the machines, which resemble low pulpits. Still, players waited intently for a chance to shoot down a fighter jet, operate a tilt-wing Harrier or tangle with a pterodactyl. Today, tickets will go on sale in the Texas Union lobby at 11:30 a.m. for playing slots between noon and 6 p.m.
Players, fitted with full helmets, throttles and power packs, stood on shiny gray and yellow platforms surrounded by a circular guard rail. Seen behind the helmet's goggles were computer simulated landscapes, not unlike the most sophisticated video games, with controls and enemies viewed in deep space. "You're on a platform waiting to fight a human figure," said Jeff Vaughn, 19, of Dactyl Nightmare. "A pterodactyl swoops down and tries to pick you up. You have to fight it off. You are in the space and can see your own body and all around you. But if you try to walk, you have to use that joy stick to get around."
"I let the pterodactyl carry me away so I could look down and scan the board," said Tom Bowen of the same game. "That was the way I found out where the other player was." "Yeah, it's cool just to stand there and not do anything," Vaughn said. The mostly young, mostly male crowd included the usual gaming fanatics, looking haggard and tense behind glasses and beards. A smattering of women and children also pressed forward in a line that snaked past the lobby and into the Union's retail shops.
"I don't know why more women don't play. Maybe because the games are so violent," said Jennifer Webb, 24, a psychology major whose poor eyesight kept her from becoming a fighter pilot in real life. "If the Air Force won't take me, virtual reality will." "They use stereo optics moving at something like 60 frames a second," said computer science major Alex Aquila, 19. "The images are still pretty blocky. But once you play it, you'll want to play it again and again." With such demand for virtual reality, some gamesters wondered why an Austin video arcade has not invested in at least one machine.
The gameplay
looked like this.
Bonus Article #1 - "Video fans play for own reasons"
(Malibu Grand Prix) - March 11, 1982
Bonus Article #2 - "Pac-Man Cartridge Piques Interest" - April 13, 1982
Bonus Article #3 - "Video Games Fail Consumer" - January 29, 1984
Bonus Article #4 - "Nintendoholics/Modems Unite" - January 25, 1989
Bonus Article #5 and
pt 2 "Two girls missing for a night found at arcade"
(truly dedicated young gamers) - August 7, 2003
Overview
This game was surprisingly interesting - for an offer anyways. In this game, you will have a bunch of champions which you will create a team out of and progress through combat stages. You have an energy bar and almost every action will require you to use energy or some other time-regenerated item. Progressing was very straightforward, and I didn't feel like there was any hidden tricks I needed to know in order to complete the offer in a decent period of time. The only things I really didn't like was how fast your energy filled up. It takes 3 minutes per 1 energy, so even when you're near the end of this offer and you have 100+ energy, it will reach the cap in about 5 hours. Of course, you won't generate more energy while it is at or over your maximum amount. That means if you want to be efficiently using your energy, you need to check in very frequently.
Note: This guide is only for completing the offer. If you might be interested in playing the game beyond this, I REALLY don't recommend following this guide. There are a lot of decisions I chose to make that will only help you in the beginning, but may significantly harm you if you choose to play beyond what is required. | |
| Offer Name | Raid Shadow Legends |
| Offer Wall | None. I found it on the Swagbucks front page. |
| Device Used | I used my desktop. |
| Amount | $60 using Swagbucks |
| Time Limit | 28 |
| Time Spent | 13 days. I was level 22 the first day, 27 the second day, 38 the 6th day. I finished it on the 7th day. |
Note: This offer goes to pending for 3 days. Starting Off
I highly recommend starting this game when you have a couple hours you can dedicate to it. When you start off, you are given an absurd amount of energy, and you quickly gain more. Your energy can safely go over the cap, but you will not regenerate any more when it is. I was level 26 before I got through all of the energy
You will be given a few champions to choose between at first. I highly recommend choosing Elhain. She has two good aoes, and she's an absolute beast for farming campaign - which you will be doing a lot of. I've seen some people recommend Kael, but I didn't particularly like him. He's better for bosses and arena, but your campaign is what is the most important.
When you first start off, you are given a short tutorial to complete. Make sure to put your battle on auto and put the speed at 2x. On occasion you may want to fight manually, but I only found it useful during certain bosses in the early stages and occasionally in an arena battle. After your tutorial, start working your way through the Missions as much as you can until you get the gem rewards for completing all of the ones in the first stage. If you get stuck, you can go ahead and start progressing further in the campaign; however, you will end up doing a lot of back tracking if you do. Once you get the 300 gem reward, don't bother doing them anymore (unless it's something easy). The rewards aren't really worth it. Also try to coordinate the Challenges when possible. Most of them just give silver so it's not really worthwhile, but some give energy or other useful rewards.
Things To Know
You should aim to get 3 stars in your campaigns when possible, but don't waste energy over it. You do this by completing a campaign with 1-2 champions without any of them dying. Getting a certain amount of stars will give you goodies like gems - so try to use 2 characters and get 3 stars when possible, but when you start getting 1 star, switch to using 4 champions for better exp distribution. Don't forget to equip/upgrade your equipment!
To get the most out of your battles, you want to be leveling as many champions as possible. EXP is split between all champions, even if they are already at max level. Most of the time that you are leveling champions, you will want to use one main fighter and fill the rest of the slots with Champions that need leveled up.
Save all of your gems at the start. Once you get to 800 gems, buy all of the Masteries you need for Elhain. This will give her a huge boost which will push you through the higher difficulties.
This is the setup I chose. After you get her Masteries, all of your gems should be spent on energy. Do not unlock your gem mine, it's a complete waste.
One of your missions will require you to upgrade the great hall, so be sure to save your bronze metals! When the mission finally has you upgrade something, upgrade the ATK for the blue meteorite. A mission later on will have you upgrade the ATK for the elements except the purple triangle.
This game revolves around upgrading your champions. You do this by leveling them up and then upgrading their rank in the tavern. In order to upgrade their rank, they must be at max level and you must sacrifice other champions at the same rank. For example, to take a Champion from 2 star to 3 star, you will need the champion at level 20, and you will need 2 other 2 star champions. To get to 3 star, it needs to be level 30 and have 3 other 3 star champions. So on and so forth. Each time you upgrade their rank, their base stats will increase and they will be reset to level 1. The sacrificial champions can be any level, and there is no benefit to increasing their level before sacrificing them.
Your goal is to farm Brutal stage 12-6. Once you get to this point, you no longer need to upgrade any Champions - just focus on clearing it quickly. This stage seemed to be the best exp to energy ratio. I tested nightmare, to an extent, but I did not feel that it would be worth trying getting to stage 12 in nightmare since you should be fairly close to completing the offer once you get to Brutal 12-6. The first 5 or so sections in each difficulty give less exp than the 12th of a lower difficulty, but the later ones will more than make up for the exp loss. Never farm the bosses though - they use more energy and give less exp than the regular stages!
Dailies
The game resets at 7PM EST. Make sure to restart your game at this time, because some things won't track properly. The clan stuff doesn't reset until later on though.
- Daily Login Reward & New Player Rewards - These usually pops up when you start the game, but you can also hit the 3 dashes on the left hand side.
- Quests - Make sure to complete all of your daily quests every day! Do your Weekly and Monthly as well. Once you unlock the Advanced quests, do them if it seems worthwhile. Completing all of them gives you an energy refill, but you might not always be able to complete them all. If you can't, just do the ones that give you energy, gems, or silver.
- Playtime Rewards - You will get a bunch of rewards for leaving your game running up to 3 hours. You should aim for at least 60 minutes to get the energy refill. These rewards need to be collected in the bottom right hand corner. The timer will continue even if you don't pick up the previous reward, so you can just leave the game running.
- Market - This resets every 60 minutes. Unlock the first two extra slots which can be unlocked with silver. Always buy all of the Mystery Shards. If you desperately need more champions, you can buy those too. I didn't see any artifacts that were worth buying.
- Progression Rewards - These aren't exactly dailies, but you should check them every 5 levels.
Events / Tournaments
These are mostly a waste of time, but make sure to collect any rewards if you happen to meet the goals. The only one to really look out for is the Artifact Enhancement event. When this one is up, it's good to waste some silver upgrading your Artifacts (Champion gear) - even if it's gear you won't use. The higher stars the gear, the more points you get for upgrading it. So make sure to upgrade the highest star gear you have when possible. Just be sure to save a few 100k silver for general purposes, but otherwise dump your silver into upgrading your artifacts so you can get some of those energy/gem rewards.
Champions
This game allows you to use 1-5 champions per battle, depending on what you're fighting. Each champion has an element, and is weak against one element and strong against another. Elhain is strong against the green lightning bolt, and weak against the red skull. She is neutral towards the blue meteorite-thing and the purple triangle.
The "Best" Champions
There are so many champions, and so many potential enemies, that it really isn't possible to say which ones you want to use. In general, you will want Elhain since she will likely be your strongest fighter. Don't ever use brews on your main fighers - you will end up maxing them out just by using them normally.
- Elhain will be your main fighter, and you should prioritize her for everything. This includes upgrading rank, skills, ascending, gear - EVERYTHING. In the beginning you'll want to put Offense artifacts on her. Once you're able to, switch that to on 4 pieces of Lifesteal and 2 Offense Artifacts and she'll carry you through everything. Try to get her to level 60 ASAP. After Elhain is 4 or 5 star, you can upgrade your Warpriest (or one other DPS) to 4 star, but otherwise save everything for her. Spend your first 800 gems on masteries for her.
- Warpriest is a decent healer, and she helped pushed me through some boss fights I otherwise wouldn't have made it through. I'm not sure how exactly I got her, but I recall getting her early on. Put on as many sets of Immortal as you can (when you get them), and use Life for the rest. Note: Each set requires 2 Artifacts. I got her to 4 stars, and it was sufficient for most of the game.
- Diabolist is a great support. You get her as a drop in the 12th campaign. I didn't get her until I was farming brutal, but she became a huge game changer. Put 6 pieces of Speed Artifacts on her, and prioritize Speed substats (and primary stat on the boots).
- Others - Pick whatever champions you can get that have AOEs or can buff your team. Speed is great for any buffers. Perception or Speed is good on any aoe debuffers. (4) Lifesteal and (2) Offense are good for any other DPS. Generally speaking, the higher the rarity, the better the champion, but pay attention to the skills.
- If you get a champion with a purple triangle element - KEEP IT! These champions are extremely hard to get, and you will occasionally get quests that require you to use one.
Team Composition
- Non-boss campaigns - In general you will want to use one main fighter and 3 champions that need leveled. However, if you find yourself stuck on a battle with a lot of red skull enemies, you will want to use more of your "good" champions. Campaigns 5, 7, and 11 will likely give you trouble- so go ahead and use more of your good fighters here if you can push through the stages. If you are unable to push through the stage even with a team full of your best champions, switch to a weaker stage or up to a full level down and use 1 main fighter. If you still cannot do one level weaker with one main fighter, use two fighters for now.
- Once you complete the 12th section in campaign, you can change the difficulty. The first few sections will give you less exp, but it is worth it to go through them. Once you get to around stage 6, the increased energy cost seems to be worth it for the player exp. If you get stuck before then, it may be worth going back to an easier difficulty and completing 12-6. Once you get to Brutual 12-6, stop.
- Boss campaigns - You will likely want a secondary fighter for bosses, if not a full team. Boss campaigns cost more energy and give less exp, so just focus on getting through the stage. It may be worth turning off auto battle for certain fights if you see your team struggling unnecessarily (ex: Using aoes on one enemy, fighting enemies that respawn instead of hitting the boss, etc)
- Arena & Clan Boss - Use your best team - there's no exp here.
- Dungeons & Faction Wars - Choose a pretty good team for these. There is exp, but it's very little.
- Doom Tower - Don't worry about this. You might be able to work your way through near the end of the game, but it isn't really worth it by then.
Should you spend real money?
I don't think it's worth it.
They have an offer for 1,150 gems for $30. This would give you ~3,100 energy. If you are doing Brutal 12-6, you will be able to complete around 388 runs, and each run gives you around half of a percentage. That means you would get around 2 levels worth for $30, which might save you 2-3 days if you purchased it near the end.
Other tips/notes for this game:
- Reload the game when the dailies reset. Some of them don't reset right until you reload.
- Each time you level up you will get a full energy bar worth of energy.
- If you don't have enough space for more heroes and receive one in a campaign, it will go to your mailbox with a 99 day timer. This can be a useful way to store heroes. It also happens with equipment, so make sure to sell your equipment from time to time or you'll have a lot of mail to go through. Make sure to keep some 4* and all 5* or higher equipment for the events.
- Any time you accept an energy point reward, it will immediately fill up your bar. On occasion it will be sent to your mailbox if it's from a daily reward. Arena refill items always go to your mailbox.
- Change your name and avatar to complete a couple quests.
Common Questions
Can I do this if I already completed it on another offer wall or played the game before on my own?
Generally, no. Almost all of these games state that it's for new users only.
What if I do it on another site?
No.
I don't see the offer! What do I do?
It's possible it simply isn't available for you. I'm from the USA, and many offers are not available outside the USA. If you are from the USA, try checking on the site I did the offer on or on a different site. Sometimes they're only on certain sites. It's also possible that the offer is no longer available.
What do I do if the mobile shortlink isn't working? What does ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED mean?
First off, try using a different browser. I have had issues with Chrome opening links before. If you are still getting an error, it's likely that your device isn't eligible for this offer. Even if it might be able to run the app, sometimes the offers put in specific requirements for devices. In this case, the only thing you can do is try a different device.
I completed the task but I didn't get credit for it! What do I do?
First, wait 24 hours. Most of these games credit within a few minutes, but they may take up to a day sometimes.
Next, check to see if the offer has been completed through the offer wall. If it has not, you must contact the specific offerwall that you completed the task on. For example, if you do this task on Site-xyz through AdGate you have to contact AdGate. If the offer shows as completed but you did not get your points, then the points may have been held and you will need to contact the specific site.
This takes so long! Why would you waste your time for a couple bucks?!
I play these games in between other work or on the weekends. I don't do them instead of better paying work, but rather along side it in my down time or while I'm watching TV. I'm also a gamer, so I enjoy playing games.
Have any more tips? Let users know in the comments!
As always, this is my first time playing this game. I have a lot of experience playing these sorts of games, but each one is a little bit different. All advice is based on my personal experience and my playstyle.
Looking for more ways to get paid to play games? Take a look here.
Is there a certain game you're interested in seeing a guide for? Let me know in the comments! Be sure to include the offer name, which offer wall it's on, what site you found it on, and approximately how many points it's worth.
This is a follow-up to a diary that I posted a little under a year ago. Since then, I’ve started a new job and moved into a new apartment! I began this position fairly recently (back in October) and I am still in the process of figuring out my new budget and how much I would like to save on a monthly basis. Link to old diary
here!
Section One: Assets and Debt Retirement Balance: I have ~$17,000 in a 401k from my previous job. I had to rollover money from my old plan to my new one this week, so I’m glad I got that done with! I’m not eligible to contribute to my new job’s plan until 90 days in, which will be in January. After that, I think I will likely contribute 8-10% per paycheck, still deciding!
Equity: Haha, I wish. Unfortunately, no :( it is a goal of mine to buy in the next few years though!
Savings account balance: ~$11,880 in my account as of today - I typically don’t keep much in my savings account, about 3-4 months worth of rent + expenses as an emergency fund. Once the number goes above $10,000 or so, I’ll move money to my investment accounts (this happens every 3-4 months; although this time, I waited a bit longer because I didn’t want to put too much in around election time). I’ll probably transfer a few thousand into my investment accounts at the end of this year.
Checking account balance: ~$3,290 in my account as of today - I only keep my paychecks in here and typically don’t withdraw any money unless I need cash, which is rare. At the end of each month, I’ll transfer any money I have leftover to savings so I can start each month with a clean slate.
Credit card debt: None, I consistently use 1-2 credit cards and everything is always paid off in full at the end of every month. Since I was a teenager, my mom has taught me never to spend more than I can afford and always pay off the statement balance of my credit cards.
Student loan debt: None, and I’m so thankful. Not going to college was not an option in my family and my parents were very determined to put me through college successfully without any debt at the end. I helped out by getting multiple scholarships that covered about 40% of all my expenses but it was still a lot of money. My parents had to work very hard throughout their lives to do this, after coming to America with nothing, but I’m so happy that they did.
Section Two: Income Income Progression: I’ve held multiple jobs throughout my life and I’ve always been extremely work-oriented, I get pretty bored and restless when I’m not busy so I made sure to use any extra time I had in high school productively!
2010-2013: I worked as a tutor for little kids a few days after school, taught them math/reading and helped my boss with random admin work. Also had a brief stint at a music store for a few months during the summefall of my junior year just to get some extra money.
2013-2017: Had multiple jobs throughout college, all were pretty chill and paid minimum wage. I had work-study positions in my school’s psychology department planning events and was an office assistant in various dorms on campus helping with packages, mail, administrative work, etc.
2017-2020: I was very lucky to receive a job offer in spring of my senior year as a software consultant. I loved this position and my salary rose ~$11,000 through the 3.5 years I was there, from $64,000-$75,000. I received a 10% performance raise in April 2020, but never actually received it as all salary changes were postponed until Jan 2021 due to COVID-19.
2020-present: Switched jobs last month (Oct 2020) and made the jump to management consulting. I won’t say too much about my job since it’s a small company but I appreciate the change in industry and that I’m gaining more project management skills that can be used in the future. They offered me $125,000 as a starting salary and, after three days of debating whether it was too risky to jump ship during a pandemic, I decided to take it. I have heard that our bonuses are $10,000-$20,000 per year but, since I’m not 100% sure on the amount, I’m not including it. I typically put all of my bonus money into investment/savings accounts and don’t touch it.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $6580.00 after taxes, health insurance, etc. Once I’m eligible for 401k contributions in Jan, this amount will go down significantly.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home: No consistent side gig; I sell clothes on Poshmark here and there, but only when I need to.
Section Three: Expenses Rent: $1,500.00 a month for my room in an apartment with three other girls; my room is the smallest and hopefully, I can move into a bigger room in the place once my lease is up!
Retirement Contribution: $500 a month to my Roth IRA, I always contribute the max of $6000 every year, I currently have about $23,000 in here as of now
Savings Contribution: Stated above, move all money leftover at the end of the month to savings.
Investment Contribution: Stated above, all extra money (that isn’t meant for my emergency fund) to my investment accounts. I don’t really see a point in keeping a ton of money in my savings account. I currently have about ~$55,000 in my investment and Roth IRA accounts combined.
Debt Payments: Currently none.
Donations: No monthly set donations, although I do send money to different organizations frequently when I see causes that I would like to support.
ConEd: $17-$25 per month, I Venmo my roommate for this and she pays for us
Wifi/Cable: $45 per month; again, I Venmo my roommate for this and she pays the actual bill
Cellphone: I’m still on my parents’ plan but my company reimburses us about $35 every month, which covers my share of the charges.
Subscriptions: Netflix: $0 - my parents cover this, they pay for some services and my sister and I pay for others. It all evens out in the end!
Hulu: $12.39 - my parents and sister all have access to this
Spotify: $0 - my sister pays for our family plan
HBOMax: I pay for this, my roommates and I all share a login - the cost is covered in our cable bill
FabFitFun: $200 per year, this is definitely my guilty pleasure - I definitely don’t need it, but it’s so fun to get this box every few months
Gym Membership: None at the moment, since I’m pretty iffy about working out with so many other people around mid-pandemic and it doesn’t look like the situation in NYC is going to improve anytime soon. Thinking about getting an Equinox membership though since there’s one pretty close to me -
NYC people without a corporate discount to Equinox, is it worth it? Section 4: Money Attitudes Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If so, how did you pay for it?: Yes, I think there was always the expectation that I would attend college, my parents both immigrated to the U.S. in their early 20s and told me that they would support me in any kind of career I chose, but that I had to go to college prior to doing so. My mom and dad made sure I was very involved in the process and we used to talk about all my college expenses together as a family. They also had to pay for my sister’s education too so I understand that it was a huge burden but they never complained about it. My parents are also very supportive of me getting my MBA, but I don’t think they would have the means to financially back me for this, since they’re getting close to retirement age and need to build as large of a financial cushion as possible.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have around money? Did your parents educate you on finances?: My parents have become more and more transparent about money as my sister and I have grown older. Both my parents are very frugal and taught me important lessons about debt and financial risk when I was growing up. My mom, since she handles most of the finances, was very truthful about how much we had and what we could/couldn’t afford.
What was your first job and why did you get it?: I got my first real job when I was 15, working as a tutor. I didn’t need the money because my parents supported me with anything I needed, but it was helpful to have some savings when I got to college. My parents didn’t pressure me to get one but I figured that it would also look good on college applications.
Did you worry about money growing up?: My parents didn’t really let me worry about money growing up, but I’ve always been more of a saver, rather than a spender. My parents have definitely told me that we couldn’t afford things at times, but if anything really needed to be bought, they found a way. They are now very truthful, since they’re getting older, about what their financial situation is and how much money they have set aside for retirement.
Do you worry about money now?: Constantly, I don’t know if there will ever be a point at which I won’t worry; you always need money for something. I do think that my parents have prepared me to be practical about money instead of wasting it on silly things.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?: I would say that I became financially responsible for myself once I graduated college, since I started paying my own rent and expenses at that point (minus my cellphone bill). I have a comfortable safety net of savings at the moment, but if I ever really found myself in a bind and couldn’t afford to get by, I would likely turn to my sister for help.
Section Five: Money Diary! Friday 11/13: 8:00 am - Wake up! It’s finally Friday and I’m so thankful. This week has felt incredibly long for some reason. I have a bit of a later start to my meetings today so I want to get in a workout before. Brush my teeth, change into some work out clothes, and get going on a Sydney Cummings arm/upper body workout video.
8:45 am - Done! I recently discovered her videos from an Instagram influencer I follow; I can actually keep up with them without dying on the floor in pain!
10:00 am - Calls begin and basically do not stop the entire morning. I get a few administrative tasks done here and there but ultimately am not super productive.
1:30 pm - Towards the end of my last call of the day (finally!), I make a quick egg scramble with veggies, lots of hot sauce and some avocado and toast on the side. Pair that with some OJ and get back to work!
4:30 pm - My sister and I text throughout the afternoon about things we want to do while she’s in NYC during Christmastime! I’m so excited to see her; look up times for The Greens in Chelsea but of course, they’re all sold out. Bookmark it on my computer to keep checking for the next few weeks.
6:15 pm - Log off for the week after sending in my timesheet, it’s the weekend!!! I hang out with my roommate before she goes to work and she convinces me to order Thai food for dinner (mainly because I’ve been bringing it up every day). Order Pad Kee Mao from UpThai (best Thai food on the UES) and watch The Parent Trap to distract myself while I wait, classic. -
$19.16 7:45 pm - Spend the rest of the night flipping between random movies on TV and talking to Verizon since our Wi-Fi randomly shuts off. I finally fix it and am exhausted by the end of the night.
12:30 am - Fall asleep while watching an episode of The Crown - can’t believe I haven’t watched this show until now, love Queen E!
Daily Total: $19.16 Saturday 11/14: 8:30 am - Wake up and stay in bed for a bit scrolling through texts/TikTok/Instagram. Try not to do this on weekdays but it’s inevitable on weekends.
9:45 am - Make coffee, put clean dishes away, and chill on the couch. Eat a Kind bar and some Cheerios while watching a bit more of The Crown.
12:30 pm - I’ve spent too much time on the couch at this point, oops. Put my workout clothes on and head to the East Side Running Path, it’s such a nice day for a run!
1:45 pm - 4.5 miles done! I head home and pick up some veggies from the fruit stand on my way: tomatoes, green pepper, mini cucumbers, and an avocado. The stuff here is so much cheaper than grocery stores. -
$8.00 2:00 pm - Heat up some of the leftover Thai food from last night and spend the afternoon hanging out on the couch with my roommate.
5:30 pm - Going out to dinner with a few friends tonight so I take a shower and put on some makeup. I honestly forget how to put on makeup sometimes because I do it so rarely, anyone else?
7:00 pm - Head down to Little Italy on the subway (using money already on my MetroCard) and meet my friends, S and K, at Aunt Jake’s! This place has the most AMAZING pasta. I get the rigatoni with spicy arrabiatta sauce and we split a bottle of red wine between the three of us. Sit outside in the cold and eat with my huge coat on but it’s better than being inside the restaurant with way too many people. Plus, the wine helps a lot. -
$46.30 9:45 pm - We part ways and I subway back up to the UES, the Q makes it so quick. Spend the rest of the night on the couch watching Schitt’s Creek with my roommate.
Daily Total: $54.30 Sunday 11/15: 9:00 am - Wake up and the scrolling happens again, albeit for a shorter time than yesterday. It’s the little wins! I quickly go to the grocery store across the street to grab milk because I can’t have my coffee black, no matter how hard I try. -
$2.39 10:30 am - Spend the rest of the morning talking to my mom and then my best friend, L. L and I have been fighting a bit lately so it feels good to get things cleared up. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders once we’re done!
12:30 pm - Heat up the pasta from last night (with some sautéed veggies added in) and watch a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory. I’m the queen of leftovers.
3:30 pm - Scour the internet for a place to buy paper towels and finally end up scoring some at Staples. Looks like COVID Round #2 is coming in hot. Wear your masks, please! -
$21.55 5:00 pm - Between freaking out over COVID infection rates and episodes of Schitt’s Creek on in the background, I raid my fridge and realize I’m out of a few things. Wish I had known this before I went to the grocery store this morning, damn. This doesn’t really help in limiting my exposure....
5:45 pm - Run to Staples to pick up my order of paper towels and then head to the grocery store to get romaine, waffles, onions, and olives. Also see some apple cinnamon donuts while I’m in line and can’t resist.... -
$16.40 7:00 pm - Veggie sandwich and tomato soup for dinner while watching The Crown. Clean up the kitchen after I eat and FaceTime my parents for a bit. Spend a majority of the call trying to convince them to get a new laundry machine since theirs keeps breaking. Maybe my sister and I will surprise them for Christmas...
10:00 pm - Walk around my apartment to get my steps in for the day and take a quick shower. Watch a bit more of The Crown while ordering a gift for my old boss. She’s the best and I felt so much guilt leaving my last job mainly because I loved working with her. Ship her a gift basket full of wine (obviously), cheese, cookies, crackers, almonds, and other good stuff. Write her a quick thank you note (110 characters is not enough) and send it off! -
$91.00 12:30 am - I call my brother-in-law to wish him a happy birthday and fall asleep immediately after; work is going to be rough tomorrow.
Daily Total: $131.34 Monday 11/16: 8:15 am - Snooze multiple times and finally manage to get out of bed. I have a heated mattress pad inside my bed so it’s especially hard to get up on mornings when it’s 35 degrees outside. I stretch, brush my teeth, and change into work clothes (lol leggings and a tank) before dialing into my first call of the day.
10:45 am - Quick break time! I heat up my coffee while I make a waffle with peanut butter and maple syrup on top. Banana on the side. Back to Excel!
12:20 pm - Morning calls are almost at an end so I head to the kitchen to make lunch. Put some quinoa to cook on the stove (ever since I learned how to correctly make quinoa, I’ve become obsessed and put it in everything) and quickly assemble a harvest bowl a la Sweetgreen. Add in spinach, apples, quinoa, sweet potato, broccoli and carrots. Topped with a pesto vinaigrette, it’s probably a weird combination, but I like it and it fills me up.
3:30 pm - I recently started a new job about a month ago and am finally getting around to rolling over my 401k into my new plan. I requested a check from the old company last week and spend some time going through the rollover process. It’s relatively easy, thankfully, and all I need to do now is get HR to sign a form!
4:45 pm - Tortilla chip snack break because I always get hungry around this time.
6:15 pm - Work is finally over and I’m about to start a workout when my roommate complains that she hasn’t done one in a while. I convince her to do a Sydney Cummings boxing workout with me and we’re both dripping with sweat by the end. Our downstairs neighbors probably hate us though since there was a lot of jumping, whoops!
7:20 pm - Heat up the last portion of TJ’s Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup and eat while watching an episode of The Crown. I wonder how much of this stuff is true and Google random things about Prince Philip while I watch.
10:45 pm - After talking with my mom and sister for almost an hour, I run the dishwasher and finally take a shower. It feels so good to get into bed!
12:00 am - Scroll through random TikTok videos and send a few funny ones to my sister. Pass out while watching old episodes of The Big Bang Theory.
Daily Total: $0.00 Tuesday 11/17: 8:20 am - I wake up too late and scramble around quickly to get ready before my 8:30 call begins. Manage to brush my teeth and make coffee, still in PJs though. Luckily, it’s a conference call with our team in Spain so I don’t have to turn my video on and can sip my coffee while listening.
9:10 am - I have some time before my next call at 9:30 so I change into leggings and a tank, throw a sweatshirt on, and fix my bed. I hate late start days but the time I get to spend under my covers almost seems worth it every time.
10:30 am - Same breakfast as yesterday: waffle with peanut butter and maple syrup with a banana on the side. Can you tell I’m a creature of habit?
12:30 pm - I’m STARVING. I quickly make a small plate of nachos because I have calls until 2:00 and can’t eat until after.
2:00 pm - Yes, calls are over! I swear, half of these could be summed up into an email. Make a harvest bowl like yesterday with broccoli, apples, sweet potato, etc. Make a quick honey mustard vinaigrette with my almost empty mustard bottle - I love hacks like these!
4:15 pm - My paycheck dates have changed so I call to ask Chase if they can modify my credit card statement closing date to be right before I get my first paycheck so I can start each month fresh after rent gets paid. Also get the rollover form back from HR and upload my check to my new 401k!
6:00 pm - Go downstairs to the CVS on my block to get a quick flu shot. I’m in and out within 15 minutes, thankfully!
6:45 pm - Hang out with my roommate before she goes to work and spend the rest of the night watching The Bachelorette and talking to my parents. My sister and I are trying to visit our cousin in California for NYE and we’re not sure if it’s going to be okay getting on an airplane in a month. I tell my mom to book the tickets now, since they’re relatively cheap, and we can always cancel and get our miles back since refund policies are lenient at the moment. Walk around my apartment while talking on the phone to get some steps in. At some point, I make a sandwich with broccoli cheddar soup from TJ’s on the side.
10:30 pm - I spend some time just laying on my couch, my back and shoulders completely kill from boxing yesterday.
11:20 pm - Shower, hot cocoa, a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory, bed.
Daily Total: $0.00 Wednesday 11/18: 7:30 am - Wake up earlier than I want ta so I can get in line early at CityMD to get a COVID test. Quickly brush my teeth and slip on leggings and sneakers and run across the street. The line is already around the block to the next street...great.
8:30 am - Contemplate leaving as I dial into a Zoom meeting, decide wait it out some more.
9:00 am - Okay...pretty sure I have pneumonia by now. IT’S FREEZING and we’ve only moved by half a block. I did not prepare enough for this. Complain/vent to my mom a little on the phone and decide to cut my losses before I freeze to death. Run back home, immediately change into comfy sweats, and spend over an hour trying to get warm again while in meetings.
12:30 pm - Text with my sister while I’m in a meeting about the testing situation in NYC. She wants me to get tested before I go home for Thanksgiving so we don’t have to worry about our grandparents. I search around for other testing sites in the city while I’m in calls.
1:30 pm - I throw together a bunch of vegetables with some spinach and brown rice I had in the fridge and make a quick salad. Use up the last of the honey mustard vinaigrette as dressing.
4:00 pm - Research face masks while I’m on my last call of the day. I like the ones from Rothy’s (recommended by another money diary) but I hold off on buying them for now until I can decide on a color I like.
6:15 pm - Finish up work after sending out a few emails and turn on a Sydney Cummings workout. My butt and legs are on fire after I finish...I take longer than I should to get up off my yoga mat.
7:15 pm - Heat up the rest of the broccoli cheddar soup from TJ’s - it’s actually much better than I thought it would be!
9:00 pm - Head down to CVS quickly because I have a coupon for a free item and my mom would be disappointed in me if I let it go to waste. I can’t really think of anything I need so I grab a muscle relaxant cream to give to my grandma, she has arthritis so I think it would be helpful.
10:00 pm - I get an email that a dresser I’ve been looking at is back in stock. We remodeled my room at my parent’s house last year and it’s basically empty at the moment, so I think it could be a nice addition to the space. I call my mom to ask if she likes it - luckily the color matches perfectly with the rest of the furniture so I go ahead and make the purchase. Open up a Wayfair credit card to get $40 off; I get approved quicker than I thought! -
$383.84 11:15 pm - I take a shower, try on the items I got in my latest Stitch Fix box, and get into bed. Exchange random funny TikToks with my sister and fall asleep while watching an episode of The Crown.
Daily Total: $383.84 Thursday 11/19: 7:30 am - I have a call at 8:30 so I wake up early to check if the urgent care near me has time slots. It already says that no walk-in appointments are available for the next hour so I make a note to check throughout the day. Lay in bed and am in and out of sleep for the next half hour.
8:30 am - I get on my first call of the morning after cleaning up my room and brushing my teeth. I listen to our project lead talk about doing business with Asian countries while making my coffee.
10:30 am - Still on calls, ugh. Take a quick break from the Excel file I’ve been working on in the background to make a multigrain waffle with peanut butter and some maple syrup on top. No banana to add on the side today, unfortunately.
11:45 am - I’ve been talking to a guy I met on Bumble for a few weeks now and we were supposed to meet tonight for the first time. I text him to postpone since we’re both seeing our families in the next few days and it would be too risky to meet tonight for the first time. Luckily, he’s really nice about it and totally understands. This pandemic has definitely pushed back my potential wedding by 2 years, ha.
1:30 pm - I finally have a break from meetings to make lunch! I quickly heat up some parmesan arugula ravioli from TJ’s with a salad on the side to use up all of the random produce I have left. Get back to my desk and work while I eat.
4:30 pm - I read a funny article about the little owl that was found in the Rockefeller Center tree and I text my old coworker about it. They call him Rockefeller and he’s so cute! My coworker says he gives her Baby Yoda vibes. I agree.
6:45 pm - Finally finish up work, it’s almost Friday! I check the urgent care site again and it still says that no appointments are available for the next hour. My roommate and I complain about how it shouldn’t be this difficult to get tested in the city. I walk down to the center anyway and the receptionist tells me that she might be able to fit me in if I come back tomorrow around lunchtime. Semi-success!
7:30 pm - I eat a few soft/hard tacos for dinner while talking to my roommate and watching an episode of The Crown - I just want to get to the Princess Diana-era already!
10:00 pm - I spend the rest of the night cleaning up the kitchen, running the dishwasher, showering, etc. I decide on one item to keep from my Stitch Fix box and check out the app. I think I might cancel my subscription, especially since we’re probably not going anywhere for the next few months. -
$59.00 11:30 pm - Get in bed, pull up old episodes of Friends on my iPad, and fall asleep at some point.
Daily Total: $59.00 WEEKLY TOTALS Food + Drink: $92.25
Fun / Entertainment: $0.00
Home + Health: $21.55
Clothes + Beauty: $59.00
Transport: $0.00
Other: $474.84
GRAND TOTAL: $647.64 REFLECTIONS: Aside from the furniture purchase and gift for my boss, I would say that this is a standard week. I honestly don’t think I spend too much but sometimes my credit card bill is way higher than I thought it would be. I thought it would be fun to do a follow-up, especially with my job/apartment change! Still trying to figure out how to live with this salary since it’s a big change for me, has anyone struggled with this? Would love some advice, I realize that it’s a great problem to have but I still feel uncomfortable since I don’t really know how much is right to spend/save.
Here is some advice for new drivers and it might help others as well.
(1) Opt out of the arbitration agreement in the method prescribed in the contract. This will ensure that you can go to a real court in the event of a dispute with Grubhub. Arbitration agreements only help big businesses and are how they deny people justice.
(2) if something seems suspicious about a customer or a situation involving an order contract support so they have a record of of the incident. This protects you from the likelihood of Grubhub later making accusations against you.
(3) If you are on block and you don't get any orders call Grubhub to check the status of the market and your connection. You MUST do this if you are receiving compensation from Grubhub. The communication shows that you are trying to do your job in good faith. It decreases the likelihood of them claiming that you somehow committed fraud.
(4) Don't take no for an answer. Sometimes Grubhub treats us like employees and just tells us something and expects us to screw off. We are independent contractors and that means that we have some degree of power. If Grubhub makes a mistake they have a duty to fix it. Don't let them give you the run around. Email the driver specialists and then keep calling until you get a supervisor on the willing to fix the issue. They tend to act like they are doing you a favor or a one time courtesy. This is just some crappy soft skills they teach customer service representatives to make you feel like you are getting special treatment and make it less likely that you will contact them again in the event of a similar issue. It isn't a courtesy for them to fix their screw up. This usually happens in regards to incorrect stats.
(5) If you have a time sensitive issue send a detailed email to the driver specialist team. Make sure the email is very detailed. Tell them: (1) what you need them to do, (2) why you need them to do it, (3) explain to them how they have a duty and authority to do what you want them to, (4) explain the consequences of inaction on their part, and (5) emphasize the time sensitive nature of your request.
(6) Inform Grubhub of anything that you believe they should know about. The topic can be dangerous neighborhoods or restaurants treating you poorly. They are then put on notice and can't claim ignorance in the future.
(7) Don't take advice about program status or scheduling advice from drivers not in your region. Some areas you will only get orders while on block and others orders will come in without being on block. In my area I'll only get orders if I'm on block and I'll only be able to schedule if I'm premier because the time slots fill up so fast. This doesn't let me cherry pick. I make good money accepting almost every order. Some regions you will only make money cherry picking and enough orders come in off block to do that. Only take advice from people in your region and better yet just experiment and see what works best for you.
(8) Get additional insurance. Unlike some other gig apps Grubhub doesn't cover you while you are delivering. You will likely need some form of ride share insurance that covers you while online and waiting for orders as well as while taking active orders.
(9) Sign up for gas rewards programs. You will save lots of money.
(10) You will need to purchase a good tactical flash light for night deliveries. Many people neglect to turn on their outdoor lights and apartment buildings tend to have poor lighting which makes it difficult to see the building numbers.
(11) Have multiple GPS apps on your phone. You should have one that can work while you are offline. I use Sygic for my second GPS. Sygic can work while having no internet and it shows the address number on the app map.
(12) Read the customer notes before leaving the restaurant. They will sometimes ask you to grab some sauce or something on the way out. Grubhub costs more for customers than other apps so we need to provide service a bit better than the others. People will start tipping more over time by providing a small service that costs us nothing. You will have many repeat customers driving with Grubhub so are only helping yourself by doing this.
(13) Look at Google Street view before you start driving to the customer. This will help you identify the correct building. I look at the landscaping on street view in neighborhoods that have cookie cutter houses.
(14) check which way the door opens so you don't leave the food in a place that the door would hit the food when the customer opens the door.
(15) Doorbell cameras are common now. So wear your mask, use the bag provided, and don't do anything stupid. You don't want to end up online, on the news, or deactivated.
(16) Don't argue with restaurants or customers. If the restaurant is making you uncomfortable just call Grubhub and they should unassign you. Arguing or saying unprofessional things to customers is useless. It is only harmful to you. It can be used against you. You especially don't want to argue with them over text. Those spoofed numbers are monitored and the momentary good feeling after telling someone off is not worth the risk of being deactivated and possibly being held legally liable for harming the business.
(17) Keep track of all your expenses for tax time and this includes mileage.
(18) Take a shower, wash your clothes, and try to at least look clean. I see many drivers in my area, mostly DoorDash, looking horrible. You can't tell the difference between them and the homeless drunks that hang around. Americans are very into appearances. They want to feel that they are paying for a quality service. Looking presentable is just the basic minimum. Customers will start tipping more when they feel like they are paying for a more premium service.
(19) Basic manners will serve you well in this business. Please, Thank you, being patient and simple pleasantries are necessary if you intend to become successful. Restaurants will start making sure your order is first and giving you free stuff. People will be interested in ordering food from Grubhub when they see how polite that you are. Also, hold the door for people. Your delivery won't take you any longer by taking a few seconds to hold the door for someone. People are getting mad at the behavior of some drivers in public. This is probably impacting tips for everyone. Just not being a dick makes society better. Using basic manners and being a pleasant person costs you nothing and can only benefit you.
If anyone else has any advice feel free to post it here.
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