Celebrating the New Year holiday, I didn't expect to receive a semi-monthly paycheck of $122 from X. To be honest, that moment felt pretty great. It's not because $122 is extraordinary, but because—I didn't do anything, and it just came in on its own. Some money really isn't earned by burning the midnight oil. Instead, it's the track you've laid down before that starts to run on its own. Half a month $122. About $250 a month. That's $3,000 a year.