Comments on: 36 Ways on How to Make Extra Money

By: Carma

Carma — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:00:41 +0000

Babysitting Inquiry – Mikayla: Usually it is more to babysit the little tots/babies. That sounds like a fair price, but I suggest you charge the $15 for 4 and under and $10 for 5 and over. Can I just put in another plug here. Please keep your electronic devices home. Keep the TV off unless it has Ice Age or Toy Story playing. Do not use their phone to communicate with your friends. Clean up after yourself if you are in their home and go beyond, do a few other things if you have time. You’ll get referred to other people and soon have a booming business! Just don’t forget your time belongs to those who are paying you – not yourself. Give the little ones your attention and time. Get down on the floor and play with them, sing with them, talk to them, etc.

By: Xavier

Xavier — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:48:42 +0000

Honestly, the internet is a great opportunity to make money but at the same time it is such a challenge to stay on top and stay “profitable”. If you lose your traffic from engines then you’re running the risk of becoming obsolete. The site I started is http://banktruth.org and so far its been very fun to help people find online banks and the best rates for deposit accounts but its also a challenge to be competitive.

By: Greg Miliates

Greg Miliates — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:31:28 +0000

One of the most profitable ways to earn extra money is by consulting, since a consulting business has:
–>low start-up costs,
–>flexible hours,
–>high hourly pay rate, and
–>you likely already have the expertise to get started.

I’ve found that fear often stops aspiring consultants from starting a consulting business, and on my blog (http://www.StartMyConsultingBusiness.com), I talk about how to overcome those fears. I also talk about practical, concrete things you can do to start and run a successful consulting business, along with tools, tips, tricks, and techniques for automating your business and keeping costs to a minimum.

One of the neat things about becoming a consultant is that you DON’T need a pile of cash to start a consulting business. For example, you can create a professional website for under $100–typically in an evening (I have a free ebook that shows you exactly how to do this, even if you’re not a techie).

I started my consulting business over 4 years ago as a part-time way to make extra cash, and it’s grown into my full-time endeavor, where it’s the sole income for my family of 4 for over 2.5 years. I make several times what I used to make at my day job, and have much more flexibility.

By: Nika

Nika — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:16:12 +0000

I found the craigslist is an awesome source of pt, ft, and business opportunities. For about the last 5 years now I have been using craigslist to either supplement my income and now I found a business opportunity that has allowed me to work completely for myself. Granted, I don’t make as much as I did at my full time job, but $50,000 per year is respectable and it allows me to stay home with my kids. So I encourage everyone to get in the habit of checking craigslist on a regular basis and give it a try. I have not been burnt once in the 5 years I’ve used it but you must use common sence, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is a scam. Also, since I live in a metropolitan area, craigslists requires a fee for anyone posting jobs so this helps with keeping most scams from posting.

Hope my two cents help.

By: Carma

Carma — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 16:19:31 +0000

Sell seasonal items, work consessions at a rodeo, sell Christmas trees, run a fireworks stand (we cleared $8,000 in two weeks ten years ago). There is always something going on. Delivering newspapers has nearly become a thing of the past, but we still have rural routes in our area that are always having a turn over in carriers.

By: irene

irene — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:49:05 +0000

paid to go shopping and taste foods

By: Mikayla

Mikayla — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:48:35 +0000

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!!!

By: Carma

Carma — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:50:47 +0000

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.

By: C.

C. — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:13:56 +0000

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.

By: Shivalu

Shivalu — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:57:16 +0000

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.

By: Dividend Growth Investor

Dividend Growth Investor — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:42:26 +0000

Buy dividend growth stocks and enjoy the rising stream of dividend income to your portfolio!

By: give some money

give some money — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:23:50 +0000

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

By: Bradley Jones

Bradley Jones — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:33:59 +0000

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.

By: mr.me

mr.me — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:33:34 +0000

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

By: Dividend Growth Investor

Dividend Growth Investor — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:22:23 +0000

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)

By: Em.

Em. — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:31:19 +0000

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.

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:35:05 +0000

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.

By: Billy S

Billy S — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:16:15 +0000

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.

By: Photos by Fred

Photos by Fred — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:30:51 +0000

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.

By: Humbuzz

Humbuzz — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 06:12:47 +0000

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?

By: frugalscholar

frugalscholar — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:33:06 +0000

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.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:04:39 +0000

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.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:21:18 +0000

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!

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:45:02 +0000

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.

By: Carma

Carma — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:38:24 +0000

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.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:47:26 +0000

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.

By: Brantley Oakey

Brantley Oakey — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:32:02 +0000

Wow! I tried to think of some other ideas, but I think you have a pretty comprehensive list there. Way to go. Great post!

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:07:51 +0000

LadyBug,

Glad I could help…..

By: Dustin McClure

Dustin McClure — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:01:55 +0000

Enjoyed your list, I am going to see what else I might be able to fit in my busy life.

By: Dan Murry

Dan Murry — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:50:09 +0000

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.

By: LadyBug

LadyBug — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:56:35 +0000

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.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:50:22 +0000

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.

By: Bill m

Bill m — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:24:30 +0000

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..

By: Valerie

Valerie — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:05:34 +0000

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!

By: Charlie

Charlie — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:33:43 +0000

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.

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:34:07 +0000

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.

By: Miss m

Miss m — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:21:07 +0000

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.

By: Dan Murry

Dan Murry — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:30:02 +0000

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.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:59:35 +0000

Wow, most of my garage sales only gross about $30 – $50!

I’ll take a couple of these ideas and run with them.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:18:19 +0000

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! =)

By: Ashley

Ashley — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:55:07 +0000

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.

By: Tashia

Tashia — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:14:47 +0000

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!