You CAN Make Extra Money!
Need to make extra money because you’re having trouble making ends meet? Has a tough economy forced you to cut your budget to the bone? Here are five ways to make extra money you can do right now to get your bills caught up and start paying down your debt.
Some of these are just plain common sense and some you may have never thought about. All of them can make you some extra scratch to get by even when the economy is terrible.
Read All My “Money Making Ideas” posts here
Freelancing
It doesn't matter if you do accounting or carpentry. If you have a marketable skill, then you can hire yourself out to do freelance work on the side. Unless your employer strictly forbids freelancing, it can be a great way to make extra money in your spare time.
In fact, you could even grow your freelance work into a full time business. You will find it’s easy to advertise your services on such sites as Craigslist, Elance.com and XPlace.com
Set Up a Shop on Etsy
If you have arts and crafts skills you can make whatever you think you could sell to friends, family, or anyone else in the world by setting up a shop at Etsy.com. Etsy is a web based marketplace for arts and crafts that connects you with people around the world who are willing to buy what you make. Of course, that's a lot better than setting up shop at a flea market or trying to convince a boutique owner to carry your stuff.
Here's a great post about how to get started selling on Etsy.com
Rent Your Space With AirBnB
Rent a room or your whole house to someone who is traveling to your city using AirBnB.com. You can list what you have available on their website and people sign up to stay. You can charge what you want per night and you have the power to approve or deny who stays. Each participant rates the traveler and destination so you have a better idea of what you're getting.
To make sure your accommodations are represented as professionally as possible, AirBnB will even send a professional photographer to take pictures for your listing at no charge . Here’s a quick video to show you how it works.
Drive Like a Wrap Star
Ever seen those cars zipping around town wrapped in advertising? They aren’t always driven by small business owners promoting their own business. Some people actually get paid to have their car wrapped in advertising and go about their normal daily driving habits. So depending on where you live, what your driving habits are, and the advertiser, you can make as much as $400 a month just for driving your car.
It can be a little difficult to get picked if you drive less than 800 miles per month and don’t live in a heavily populated area, but it may be worth 20- 30 minutes of your time to fill out the forms necessary on the different websites to see if you qualify. Just do a Google search for “auto wrap advertising”.
Sell Stock Photos
Then you can actually sell your photos online at sites such as Shutterstock, Fotolia, or istockphoto.com. You may already have a large collection of photos or you can shoot what interests you and upload them to these sites. You’ll typically make about $ .25 every time someone purchases one of your pics. So your photos won’t make millions, but each one can be sold an unlimited number of times.
Therefore, if you upload dozens or even hundreds of good quality photos, it can become a steady stream of income over time.
There is Always a Way to Make Extra Money
Whether you've lost your job, had your hours cut back, or you just want to make extra money to pay off your debt because you’re becoming intense about getting debt free, remember, there is always a way to hustle and make extra money, even in a bad economy.
In fact, I would argue that there has been no better time in history to make extra income due to the power of the internet and its ability to connect one single person with almost every other person on the planet, a segment of those who are looking for exactly what you have to offer.
So go ahead, get crackin’ and find a way to make that extra money you need to achieve your financial goals.
Have any ideas on how to earn extra income?
Let me know in the comments.
25 Side Hustles for Teachers to Make Extra Money
“Another 5 Ways to Make Extra Money, Even in a Tough Economy”
Read all my posts on Making Extra Money here
By the way, here are some resources you can use:
How to Work from Home with Amazon- 5 Profitable Ways to Do It
Cleaning homes, raking leaves, shoveling snow–if there is any snow where you live, picking up and taking old appliances to a recycling center that pays, clothing alterations, or musical instrument lessons.
All great suggestions. Thanks Jamie!
Our HOA has put the kabash on short term rentals–going so far as to take a home owner to court over the issue. Seems like overkill to me. Side gigs are meaningful these days. Thanks for some helpful tips!
Hmm, wonder how my HOA feels about it. Anyway, especially in this economy, side gigs can really result in significant income if you’re willing to think a little differently and commit to doing something consistently.
I just had to give a thumbs up to Airbnb. I’ve used it as a host and as a traveler. Not that it doesn’t require sacrifice, but I’ve made decent money renting out my bedroom using the web site. Another good one is Roomorama. They don’t have all the security features as Airbnb, but you can always be more discriminating about who you allow to book your place.
That’s very interesting. I’ve never known anyone who has used it before but it looks like a great concept as long as you’re careful about how you do it and have reasonable expectations.