36 Ways to Earn Extra Money

Written by Nickel - 36 Comments

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We’ve all heard it a million times before… The key to getting ahead is to live below your means. It’s so simple. In fact, even our eight year old knows how to become a millionaire. So why is it so to spend less than you earn? I think that a big part of the problem is that spending less money isn’t much fun. But guess what? There’s another side to the equation. With that in mind, I thought I’d compile a list of ideas for earning extra money.

Earn more money from your current job…

A logical place to start when trying to improve your lot in life is to focus on your current line of work. Here are three different ways to get more from your job:

Ask for a raise. One of the easiest ways to earn extra money is to get more for what you’re already doing. With that in mind, you should work to excel in your work, build a case, and then ask for a raise.
Position yourself for a promotion. Another great way to earn more from your work is to get promoted to a higher paying position. Do whatever you can to excel. Go above and beyond the call of duty around the workplace and consider taking advantage of any training opportunities that you can find.
Find a new job. A great way to increase your earning power is to get a job offer. Even if it’s a lateral move, and especially if it’s not, switching jobs is a great way to increase your salary.

Unfortunately, now that the economy is in the crapper, it’s probably not the best time to ask for a raise, push for a promotion, or angle for a new job. While it can’t hurt to try, you may need to look elsewhere in hopes of generating extra income.

Earn extra money on the side…

There’s an almost infinite number of ways to generate a bit of extra cash. Whether it’s picking up a second job, doing odd jobs around the neighborhood, or selling stuff, you’re really only limited by your time and imagination. Here are 30 33 more ideas for earning extra money on the side.

Get a second job. While the job market is tight and getting tighter, picking up a second job is a surefire way to earn extra money.
Take on a paper route. Paper routes aren’t just for kids anymore, and you can usually knock it out during the pre-dawn hours, so it doesn’t interfere with work.
Deliver phone books. Over the weekend, we got the latest edition of “The Real Yellow Pages” delivered to our doorstep. You won’t get rich, but it’s not particularly difficult, and you can do it on your own time.
Do yardwork/lawncare. More and more people are outsourcing their lawncare. Why not get a piece of the action? You can make a few bucks and get some exercise all at once.
Shovel (or plow) snow. For those in cold climates, you can make good money removing snow. Here again, you can also get some good exercise. Sure, snowfall isn’t as predictable as grass growth, but it’s a great alternative during the winter months.
Clean homes or offices. Just like lawncare and snow removal, there are a ton of people out there looking for help around the house.
Do tax prep on the side. Companies like H&R Block are always looking for temp employees during tax season. Thanks to Miss m for the tip.
Become a golf caddy. Sure, this is a job that is often done by teenagers, but there can be good cash in it.
Start babysitting. Babysitting can be quite lucrative — check out how much people pay babysitters — and it’s also very flexible.
Start pet-sitting. I know from personal experience that there’s good money in pet sitting… Whenever we travel we need to find someone to board our bearded dragon (seriously), and we always spend way more than we should.
Become a tutor. Do you live near a high school or college? Are there any subjects that you’re particularly good at? If so, then consider tutoring in your spare time.
Teach a language. For those that are fortunate enough to be fluent in a second language, you can make money teaching it to others. In some cases, people will even pay to chat over coffee with a “conversational partner” who is fluent in that language they’re learning.
Become a substitute teacher. Depending on your educational background, this can be a good source of cash, especially for at-home moms that want to get back into the work force, but want hours that accommodate their kids.
Become an ump/ref for a local sports league. Around here, sports leagues are always looking for competent refs. Games are usually scheduled around business hours, and it pays pretty well.
Do freelance web design. If you have the skills, there are a number of online resources for finding web design gigs. If that doesn’t work, pound the pavement in your community. A lot of small companies don’t have much of a web presence, and could use your help.
Do some freelance writing. As is the case for web design, there are a number of online resources for finding writing gigs. Dig around a bit and see if you can find anything that suits your interests.
Start a weblog in a lucrative niche. This site is a prime example of the fact that you can make money blogging. It’s not easy, but it can definitely be done.
Become a mystery shopper. Here again, there’s tons of info on online, and there are even books about it.
Get paid to take online surveys. There are a number of reputable companies that pay people to take surveys online. While they’re not always accepting new members, you should check out Pinecone Research.
Participate in marketing focus groups. I actually did this a bit as a kid because we lived near a toy/game company. Thanks to Ashley for the tip.
Get paid to signup for trial offers. Sites like Cash Crate pay you to sign up for free trials — you can always cancel them so it’s truly free cash.
Maximize your credit card rewards. As long as you keep a lid on your spending, reward credit cards are a great way of generating a bit of spare cash on everyday expenditures.
Take advantage of signup bonuses. You can easily snag signup bonuses ranging from $25-$250 when you apply for a credit card or open a bank or brokerage account.
Play the 0% balance transfer game. Simply sign up for one or more 0% balance transfer credit cards and profit by plunking the proceeds in an high-yield savings account while you make the minimum payments.
Make the most of the money that you already have. Move your money to a high-yield online savings account or build a CD ladder in order to maximize your interest earnings.
Sell extra stuff from around the house. Clearing our extra stuff is not only a great way to make a bit of money, it’s also very cathartic. If you’re interested, be sure to check out my list of garage sale tips as well as my tips for selling stuff on eBay.
Sell your used textbooks. There are a number of sites online that will buy your books back from you directly. Thanks to Nick for the tip.
Take and sell digital photos. If you have a knack for photography, you might be able to generate some side income by selling stock photos.
Make and sell crafts. Here again, if you have a knack for it, you can make generate some income on the side by making and selling crafts — either at local shows or on eBay.
Sell craft designs. Instead of making the crafts yourself, why not work up some nice plans and sell those instead?
“Donate” (i.e., sell) plasma. When I was in college, a popular way to get beer money in certain circles was to sell plasma. It’s not really my thing, but it’s a viable option if you need cash in a pinch.
Collect and recycle aluminum cans for cash. While there’s not a huge amount of money in this, it’s a pretty easy thing to do, and it cleans up the environment. This is the very definition of a win-win.
Sell ad space on your car. Depending on your location, the make and model of your car, and your daily commute, you can actually make a decent amount of money by letting an advertising agency “wrap” your car with advertisements.
Rent out a spare room. Got an extra room in your house/apartment? Consider renting it out. You’ll not only defray your rent, but you’ll also be able to recoup a part of your utility costs.

If you have any ideas of your own, please leave a comment.

Published on December 15th, 2008 - 36 Comments
Filed under: Frugality, Working
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

36 Responses to “36 Ways to Earn Extra Money”

1
Tashia Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Having a garage sale is an excellent way to earn some extra money! Last year my family started our journey towards paying off our debt and the first thing I did was have a garage sale, I made $1400! I was in the mindset of selling anything & everything that I did not need…the kids were guarding their stuff with zeal!
2
Ashley Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Participate in live focus groups if you live in a metro area. I live near Chicago and am able to make probably on average $100/month doing this – some months are better than others. It seems like you’ll go a long period with no calls for focus groups, then get several in one month.

Google “focus groups” and “market research” plus your city name and you’ll probably find organizations that do it. Call them or go to their website to submit your demographic information so they can call you when they have a focus group.
3
Bryan Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Yep, this is pretty much what our site is about – living beneath your means. I’m gonna have to update my article, you bring up a lot of different ways I hadn’t thought of! =)
4
Danielle Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Wow, most of my garage sales only gross about $30 – $50!

I’ll take a couple of these ideas and run with them.
5
Dan Murry Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Pretty good article Nickel! I’m currently working on the start a “web blog in a lucrative niche” topic. I’m still trying to figure out what lucrative niche should be.

In the past I have designed websites, taken advantage of trial offers, done yard work, shoveled snow and delivered phone books! I would never recommend delivering phone books to anyone, nor would I ever do it again.

It only pays 10-20 cents per phone book delivered and the ones I delivered had to be on the front steps of the residence! This equated to either parking the car full of phone books and walking up and down really long driveways or driving up and down the driveways. I’d say it took 3 minutes on average to deliver each book. At roughly 20 books an hour at 20 cents a book that is only $4/hour! That does not even figure in gas money or wear and tear on the vehicle.

It did not help that I was delivering these phone books in the middle of the winter with a couple feet of snow on the ground. It also didn’t help that I live in a semi-rural area where the driveways are at least 100 ft long. In the end, I gave up and returned the phone books. This scenario might be a bit different in other areas and climates, but I know for sure I’ll never waste my time with it again.
6
Miss m Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
If you can play a musical instrument you can start a party or wedding band, I had a string quartet back in high school that played a few weddings. You can freelance in many fields, not just writing. I know engineers who do subdivision work for developers on the side. Another idea is paid tax preparer, I think you can work for H&R block on evenings and weekends during tax season.
7
Craig Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Renting out a room would be amazing. Having some type of real estate to get a passive steady income on would be ideal, but also very costly and a huge investment. side income is key these days, something I would like to have.
8
Charlie Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Great article. You can also sell your used books on Amazon.com. Its relatively easy. To see if your book has any value look on the book for an ISBN number. This is a 10 or 13 digit number (often found beneath the barcode on the back of the book or on the first or second page of the book).

Simply go to Amazon.com and type this number into the search box. You should then get the book’s product page. Look at the range of prices that the used version of your book is selling for. If you have any valuable books you can then click on the “Sell on Amazon” link at the very bottom of the page for a tutorial on how to sell books on Amazon.

I sold several hundred dollars of books I had sitting in my closet. My bother sold several hundred dollars of his old law books this way as well.
9
Valerie Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Great ideas here!
I went to the Pinecone Research link and it has no place to sign up. How do you know when they are accepting new members?
Thanks!
10
Bill m Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Would be nice if there was a site that would manage the ad space on your car, heh, this is the first time I hear this..
11
Nick Says:
December 16th, 2008 at 2:50 am
I would recommend ecampus.com to sell your used textbooks. They let you place your textbooks on their “marketplace” site for a 15% commission, they are the middle man, but they pay you for shipping. I had a good sales month in August, when the fall semester started….hope it picks up here soon for spring. Ecampus will also buy your books dirctley from you.

Good secondary income.
12
LadyBug Says:
December 16th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Nick’s comment put a fire under my butt. I had a box of textbooks that I have been meaning to sell/donate – eCampus bought 9 of them back for $134 – which is more than they were earning sitting in my closet. Even my high school French book netted $4, which I didn’t think was worth anything.
13
Dan Murry Says:
December 16th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Another site for selling back textbooks is textbooksrus.com

I used to work for them. It’d be interesting to see who pays more for the books. It’s easier to comparison shop at home instead of trudging to the various campus bookstores to see who will give you a better deal.

On another note they do have some of the cheapest textbooks around, especially if they are the International Editions which are identical except for maybe being softcover.
14
Dustin McClure Says:
December 16th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Enjoyed your list, I am going to see what else I might be able to fit in my busy life.
15
Nick Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 2:07 am
LadyBug,

Glad I could help…..
16
Brantley Oakey Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Wow! I tried to think of some other ideas, but I think you have a pretty comprehensive list there. Way to go. Great post!
17
Dawn Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Selling back textbooks warrants more cash the sooner you sell them back (i.e. the moment you finish your final). Publishing companies constantly print new editions and updates, thus making your year-old textbook practically worthless. Also, you don’t get much return from your local university bookstore, because they only accept a set number of each particular used book. I’ve had this problem in the past because I waited too long to sell my used books.

Another hint is talk to other students in your major. You may be able to make a great sale on your own to someone taking the same class after you.
18
Carma Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I worked in a law office where the young receptionist was helping to put herself through college on the money she received from photos her husband had taken of her and posted to rubberball.com – she also had the thrill of seeing herself when she traveled or hearing about where her photos popped up and were viewed by others in the office. AT&T happened to have purchased them and put them on billboards, one page magazine ads, and on lighted Mall ad stands. The shock when I saw the photos was they were taken at the Great Salt Lake – not some resort beach. Ever been to the Salt Lake? I believe the one amature photograph netted them $10,000. This was three years ago.
19
Nick Says:
December 18th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
A great way to earn extra money as you mentioned, without too much effort is to just sell stuff from around the house. Ebay works wonders, and you’d be surprised at what people are actually interested in buying, and how much they’d pay.
20
Brandon Says:
December 19th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I’ve noticed more and more friends and family turning to me to fix their computer. Usually they just want it formatted and get a fresh copy of windows on it. They toss a bit of money my way when it’s done. I spoke with one of them and they said they would’ve paid $100 to get this done by a professional!
21
Andrea Says:
December 19th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Working as a server for a catering company has been the best side job I have had. You can make 14 -20 dollars an hour for events that usually take 8 or more hours, but you can tell the company what days you can or can’t work so it’s really flexible.
22
frugalscholar Says:
December 20th, 2008 at 9:33 am
My son and his college friends donate their plasma. They get $75 for two donations in one week. They have a fine time chatting, drinking juice, and watching movies.
23
Humbuzz Says:
December 21st, 2008 at 1:12 am
Be careful about renting a room in your house.APartment comlxes are getting pickier about their tenant selection processes, so undesireables go to private homeowners. Do a background check. Do you want someone going through your medicine cabinet or your bank statements?
24
Photos by Fred Says:
December 21st, 2008 at 11:30 am
I did commercial photography for 30 years.
There is always a demand for business portraits
of executives and professionals for trade publications.
Also authors get portraits for the cover of their books.
Manufacturing companies need photos of products
for advertisements and for portfolios.
In my case there were oil tool companies that needed
this.
Small stores often need photos for newspaper ads.
With digital cameras and computers you don’t need
a darkroom anymore.
25
Billy S Says:
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:16 am
I can’t imagine anyone desperate enough to walk into the bull filled arena (kids) of substitute teaching for the pittance of subsistence pay that is provided.
26
Sara Says:
December 23rd, 2008 at 1:35 am
Sell scrap metal. My dad has been making a decent chunk of money doing this. He started by taking his own junk van down to be sold, and then realized he could buy junker cars really cheap and manage to make money off of them. Usually a few hundred dollars apiece. Then he did the same thing with other metal… old appliances and such. Some pieces are worth more than other… the catalytic converter on a car for example is worth a bit. It of course helps if you have a truck, or at least some means of towing a vehicle or trailer. But, a pretty good income. He would also peruse the dump looking for valuable stuff – either scrap value, or something functional that he could use of sell.
A few other things you can do, depending on where you live, and your skill set: shellfishing or mushroom hunting. I know mushrooms are particularly lucrative, but you have to know what your doing. Shellfishing requires a license, and right now there is a moratorium on new licenses in my state.
27
Em. Says:
December 25th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Nicely written list. I included you in my link-tastic xmas post.

Even better for those of us in Michigan, aluminum cans get you 10c a piece. If you can acquire cans you didn’t pay that 10c on initially (all soda cans have “deposit” ahead of time here), then it’s pure profit.
28
Dividend Growth Investor Says:
January 27th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Buy a dividend stock that has increased its dividends consistently for over 25 years and watch your passive income increase without much efforts ( provided you picked the right stock/s)
29
mr.me Says:
March 14th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
why not look on youtube for a simple guide and then offer to hel people with it
i done this with the xbox rrod (3 red lights) i earned a chunk
you would be surprised how many people panic and call somebody rather that look on the internet
30
Bradley Jones Says:
June 24th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
These are all good ways. There are also a few places online that you can sell used cell phones and PDA’s you have laying around. Or give them for charity.
31
give some money Says:
July 16th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
I love these ideas I think i am going to give a few a try I had not even considered the phone book delivery thing, altough it is probably a seasonal thing anyways I will have to check into that. there are also a lot of online opportunites, one of them which I am cucrrently doing is typobounty.com, it it really easy to use and free so any money you make is yours to keep. I think I have been doing ok, my daughter is also doing it and she is doing better than me so I guess it all depends on how much money you really want to make. overall I would recommend this site. ok off i go to find me more ways to make money
32
Dividend Growth Investor Says:
July 29th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Buy dividend growth stocks and enjoy the rising stream of dividend income to your portfolio!
33
Shivalu Says:
November 25th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Sell clothes, shoes, accessories (purses, belts, jewellry)through a consignment store. They keep a portion of the cash, but this is a great way to make money off the clothes in your closet that you don’t like/need/fit. However, as with textbooks, it is good to take your clothes in sooner rather than later. Once clothes are “last season’s” style they decrease in value.
34
C. Says:
February 1st, 2010 at 12:13 pm
This may seem odd and remote, but we are actually seeing some good returns from this idea as the recession sets in and inflation continues to rise. We built a huge pantry and have purchased foods in bulk. We purchase everything we can at restaurant supply, or online food storage companies (www.emergencyessentials.com, http://www.shelfreliance.com) We have watched over the last three years when we take a few thousand dollars and invest in foods that we use. We purchase it on sale or in bulk, then when we go to restock – wow – it’s doubled in price. Although the savings can’t be calculated, it’s obvious that we are getting much better returns than a savings account or a CD. We set up our new kitchen with storage for small appliances like breadmaker, wheat grinder, convection oven, waffle iron, stainless steel electric skillet, for convenience and electric savings. We are getting such great returns on “banking food” that it does not bother us to take money from savings and stock the pantry. Note: There are laws on how much you can purchase ahead, I think it’s a matter of months out.
35
Carma Says:
July 27th, 2010 at 11:50 am
I just did the Census, that’s every 10 years – so in 8 years they will begin hiring for 2020. It paid ok, but the mileage allowance in this rural area was 50 cents a mile so some wracked up some good miles on their old depreciated automobiles for some tax-free reimbursement.
While standing in line at the pharmacy, a woman told me she gives plasma for $50 (each time) and goes in twice a week (the maximum time allowed). I’m not sure that is for me, but that’s $500 a month/$6,000 a year and that does not seem like it would be taxed – don’t know.
36
Mikayla Says:
August 25th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Me and my sister want to start babysitting. We both have experince,but not much,one or two years. We are trying to figure out how much each of us should get, OR how much we get together. I think we should get payed $15 each(or $30 together) if the children are 6 years and older. $10 each(or $20 together) if the kids are 5 years old or younger. So what do you think? PLEASE HELP!! NEED MONEY NOW!!!

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