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We can all use some extra money. There’s no shame in that! Going for a new job or a raise can make big differences, but they’re not really an every day (or even an every year) option, and they’re not going to help you today.
These ideas will.
The best ways to bring that little extra money into our lives is to look at what we have right now, look at our everyday habits, and maximise their earnings.
You will be amazed at what you find!
Would you believe there are ways to get paid for what you already do?! And ways to get paid for things you said you would do for free?! And of course, there are easy ways to help you use your spare time to increase your earnings!
We live in the Golden Age of the Side Hustle! It’s never been easier to get that little bit of extra cash back!
Here’s how:
Get Paid for the Things You Do Anyway!
We all know that the tech industry is built on your data. Companies collect, mine and analyse everything you do online. There are ways to anonymise yourself, which is all well-and-good, but what if there were ways to get some of the action! Well there are!
Watch Videos Online
- InboxDollars: If you like to watch videos online then here is a company that will pay you to do just that! Sign-up is painless and all you have to do is watch videos through and vote on them… Like you probably already do.
Monetise Your Viewing Data
- Neilsen App.: Neilsen pioneered TV viewing numbers and they’re still at it in the digital age. If you let them know what you’re watching, they’ll pay you. All you have to do is download the app. It is so stupid simple I wish I’d known about it before.
- UpVoice: Is a competitor to Neilsen and they work just as well and offer you the same great deal. Honestly, why wouldn’t you want to be paid to be counted?
Play Online Games
- Mistplay: Same as watching videos online, but with playing games. If you play games online, why wouldn’t you want to at least get paid for that?
Get Paid to Shop
These great options give you deals and reward you for shopping.
- Swagbucks: Keep an eye out for how many times Swagbucks shows up on this list…
- Fetch Rewards
- Rakuten
- wikibuy
Get Paid for Internet Searches
Do you search for things online? Did you know you could get paid for that? Why are we searching on Google like a chump when we could at least be monetising that? Both of these services – which you should already have signed up for above – will do just that!
- InboxDollars
- Swagbucks: Here they are again! Honestly, if you’ve not signed up already, you’re just saying no to money.
- Qmee.com
Get Paid to Listen to Music
- Slicethepie.com: Do you pay for music streaming? What if your music streaming could pay you? Because it can!
Sell Your Photos
Most of us take a whole bunch of photos and then will almost never look at them again. Most of us aren’t professional photographers, so it would never occur to us to sell our pics, but you can! These companies will pay you to be able to add your quality pics to their stock picture archives. This is a no-brainer!
Get Paid for the Things You Should Do Anyway!
We could all use a little more motivation. There are those simple, everyday things – like exercise and cleaning up – which are always too easy to put off until tomorrow.
What if someone paid you to do it now? Wouldn’t that maybe get you to just do it?! Well, these services will do exactly that!
Walk & Exercise
- Sweatcoin: Get paid per step! It’s that simple!
- HealthyWage: Same idea as Sweatcoin but with an encouragement to do even more exercise. Even more!
- DietBet: Want to add a real motivator to your workout routine? DietBet encourages you to pool your goals with friends and strangers online who compete to achieve various exercise goals each week, with the winners taking home the pot!
Sell Old Textbooks
- BookScouter: I moved my textbooks from one house to another (and one country to another) for years! I never looked in them once. Turn that weight into cash! BookScouter makes it incredibly simple.
Sell Your Clutter
We all have things we no longer use. We all know we should slim down our clutter. So do it! All that “stuff” you don’t use is just congealed cash. Make it liquid again by selling it!
- eBay
- Facebook Marketplace
- decluttr.com
- MusicMagpie: If you’re in the UK, MusicMagpie are a easy solution for offloading your old technology.
- CraigsList
- Gumtree: Free option
Get Paid for the Things You’re Not Using!
Rent the Outside of your Car as Advertising Space
- Wrapify is such a great idea! If you have a car, why not let it be a moving billboard?!
Switch to High-Yield Savings
When your money sits in your account, sure you’re not spending it, but is that enough?! Make it work for you! Stock market investing no longer needs to be a significant investment in either research, time or money.
Crowd Investment Real Investment
- Fundrise: You may think you don’t have enough money to invest in property, but you’d be wrong! Participating in crowd investing is just for kickstarting the next gadget or gofunding some new project, Fundrise is an ingenious way of getting at least a toe on the ladder, even before you’ve got the savings to take a whole step up!
Rent Out Your Car
If you have a car but need it infrequently, then maybe you should look at renting it out! There are some surprisingly great services to help you do just that.
- Getaround: renting out to regular people.
- Turo
- HyreCar: If hiring your car out to normal people doesn’t appeal to you, the HyreCar specialises in renting to ride-sharing drivers specifically. Imagine forming a partnership with a few reliable drivers, enabling them and you to earn some extra money!
Rent out your Unused Space
- AirBNB: If you have a spare bedroom, why not rent it out? Sharing your space and your city, meeting new people and earning a bit of extra money all at the same time! This is such a great option, and the ability to review and approve anyone who applies before confirming makes this a surprisingly easy option.
- Garage/Parking Space: If you have a parking space but no car, don’t just leave it empty! Thousands of people will be willing to pay you to have access to it; just post a listing on any realty app and watch the offers (and money!) roll in.
- Basement/Attic Storage: Many people in the inner-city lack storage space. If you’re not one of them, then you could be sitting on a gold mine! Clear some space and let someone else in your community pay you for the privilege of leaving their things there. They’ll be grateful for saving on the self-storage costs.
Be a Scooter Charger/Lime Juicer/Bird Flyer
If your city is littered with electric scooters, then that means, come nightfall, it’s charged with money-making potential! Sign up to be a Lime Juicer or Bird Charger and you can start putting your spare sockets to work each night, earning you a little extra cash!
Get Paid for Having an Opinion!
Getting paid to participate in surveys and focus groups is so easy. This is an absolute no-brainer for earning some extra money.
They may not pay as well as attending an in person focus group (or provide free coffee and biscuits), but the convenience of taking part whenever and wherever you like can make them a real goldmine!
Online Surveys
- Swagbucks: Among my favourites, because if you’ve already signed up with Swagbucks for their internet search and video watching rewards, then this is just another bonus!
- SurveyTaken: You can earn as much as $45 per hour with SurveyTaken — not bad for your spare time.
- MyPoints
- Survey Junkie
- LifePoints
Focus Groups
As the name suggests, these surveys are a bit more focussed, with merchants asking you to participate in a study if you’re in a group they’re interested in.
Be Beta Tester
Earn money helping designers and developers refine their products by giving them feedback on their pre-release products.
Save Money Every Way You Can!
Everything you save is as good as money earned! Making sure that you’re not letting money drain out of your accounts will keep you on track for the things you really want to spend it on.
Lower Your Bills
Use these apps to check that the bills you’re paying really are the best deal you can get!
Get the Best Discounts Wherever You Shop
- Honey: This simple plug-in just hooks into your browser and, whenever you’re shopping online, it’ll scout for coupons, discounts and deals, making sure you always get the best deal!
If you’re looking for more ways to save, I have a 9 step guide to saving including a free game to help you on your way to saving $1000 a month!
You can also check out the books that I found to be most helpful in my savings journey.
Cash In On Your Spare Time!
Mind a Pet/Take a Walk
- Rover: Get some exercise, hang out with a dog or cat, and get paid for it! This app is exactly good enough to be true. Sign-up and wait for your pet-having neighbours to pay you to take care of them!
- Tailster
- Care Pet Care
Be a Carer
If minding “things” is attractive, but animals aren’t the things you want to mind, what about people? Combining a community-mindedness, earning money and using your time, these sites are a great idea! If you’ve ever said that you’d like to volunteer more but can’t justify it financially, then this is the answer!
Take on Oddjobs
There are a whole host of ways to put yourself out there and bring some money back in!
Both online and in-person jobs have never been easier to find. Lending a hand as a Virtual Assistant or literally lending a hand can be a great way of earning some extra money each day. Check out any (or all!) of these options; the different levels of penetration in each city may effect how useful each might be where you are.
Become a Driver
If you have a car, a valid license and some spare time, why not combine them and turn them into money. Signing up to be a ride share driver is really easy, and if you focus your time on peak periods you’ll get to pocket even more money for your time!
- Uber
- Lyft
Deliver Food
If you have a bike, then this is a good option too. Again, signing up is easy and committing yourself to doing a few hours a week is another great way of combining exercise with getting paid.
Deliver for Amazon
Food isn’t the only thing that needs delivering; Amazon Flex is a lesser thought of way to turn your spare time into money, with all the pleasure of delivery and none of the food smells.
Make Your Skills & Education Pay!
We all have skills. More importantly, we all have skills that other people don’t have! In fact, many of us take these skills for granted, forgetting that what we can do we could do for other people…for money!
Reading & Typing
This sounds too good to be true, but there is a limitless need for both proofreading and transcription services.
- ProofreadAnywhere: If you are a good reader with a healthy handle on grammar and spelling, then you should sign up today.
- TranscribeAnywhere: Transcription services are a great way to get paid for your spare time too.
Teach Another Language Online
Help other people learn English by signing on as a teacher through one of these online language courses. It can be a tremendously rewarding way of being paid for your spare time, helping others and enriching your own knowledge of English. This is a great way of re-engaging your brain…for money!
Share Your Knowledge with an Online Course
If you have some skills that people really want to pick up, then you could think about making an online course. There are fantastic services these days that not only take the hassle out of hosting and payment, but will help you with a bunch of ways to make sure your course is as polished and professional as possible.
Sell Products
Making and selling products is a fantastic option if you’re blessed with such a skill. Monetising a hobby is a fantastic way of earning some extra money, and honing your craft! If you enjoy making a thing, and people pay you to make that thing, imagine how much more they’ll pay the better you get?! Stop making excuses and start monetising your genius!
Start a Blog
Blogging is an undeniably good option for a side-hustle. There are loads of blogs out there telling you how to convert a blog into money, and I’ll be adding my thoughts to that cannon soon enough.
But you don’t have to have a blog to get into blogging!
If you enjoy writing, then why not help other bloggers out by becoming a freelance contributor. Credited or otherwise, you can easily link up with people in search of content on these handy services.
US-Only Extra Money Bonus Option
Selling Plasma
I save this one for last, because let’s face it: there’s a bit of a stigma on selling your blood (or any part of your body). In fact, it’s not even an option here in the UK.
But why should there be any shame here? Giving plasma once or twice a month is perfectly healthy, it helps medical professionals and their patients in need of transfusions, and it puts some extra spending money in your pocket.
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