Ways To Earn Some Extra Money

There are always times when you need a little extra money. It could be because it’s approaching the holiday season because you’ve had an unexpected bill, or because you’re going on vacation. For whatever reason, your regular funds just aren’t enough, and you need some extra cash to see you through. No one wants to get into debt, but there are ways of making some extra money without taking out a loan or using a credit card – although, these options don’t have to mean the end of the world.

You can make money doing something you love, through trying a new venture and exploring hobbies you’ve never thought would be worth much more than your enjoyment.

Turning a hobby into funds

Crafting is one of the most common hobbies, and it can make you a nice profit. It is easy to sell your projects on sites like Etsy. If you make blankets, for example, work out how much each one costs to make on average and use this as your total, or add a percentage on top (10% or 15%) to make a profit. Don’t forget to include the price of packaging and postage within the total price.

You can also turn a hobby like blogging into a profitable enterprise. Maybe you just blog once a week, or whenever you get a chance, however much you blog as long as you have a decent readership, you will be able to make some money. A lot of companies out there pay to be featured in blogs, anything from law firms to garages will pay for the advertising. You can also look at reviews where you may not be paid in cash but in products.

Try something new

You might like to write, but don’t have a blog. Or you have a blog but not enough followers to attract companies. Or you might never have thought about writing before this point but have found you’re quite good at it. In these instances, you can look into freelancing your writing. You can work from home and dictate your hours so that it fits around your full-time job. Places like Best Products Pro hire freelancers to write product reviews from home. This is a great way to earn some money, get some freebies, and develop a new skill.

You can also look at a part-time or evening job just to boost your income. Any jobs you had before you started your career will help you to find something now. It might be in a bar or in a coffee shop – anything to help top up the bank account.

You can also think about using your skills to teach others. You can set up a class to teach at a local college in crafting, writing, makeup – anything in which you have skills that other people would pay to learn. This also applies to tutoring. Whether you do it freelance or you get in contact with a local school, you might want to look into tutoring children or even adults who have gone back to college. You can teach on a subject you have existing qualifications in like English or a musical instrument.

Yard sale

It’s time to think about clearing out some clutter in your house and selling it. You might think an old rocking chair is worthless, but someone else might pay good money for it. You can take your stuff to a store to be sold, you can have a traditional yard sale, or you can sell online. Selling online means that you don’t have to dedicate a whole day to selling, it also means that you have to compete with other prices online. People are more likely to impulse buy when it’s in their hands.

Pet sitting

If you love animals, becoming a pet sitter is a great way to earn some extra money. If you work from home, it’s so easy to have a pet all week, and if you work a nine-to-five job, and the pet needs a lot of attention, then limit it to weekends. Just make sure that you’re comfortable looking after that particular animal before agreeing to the job; if you hate spiders then don’t pet sit a tarantula. It’s the same if you don’t know how to look after a particular animal – but it’s easy to find out how online, and through talking to the pet’s owner.

You can top up this top up with dog walking services. You will always find people near where you live who work shifts and need someone to take Rover out for his evening walk. If you have a dog yourself, you can just add a couple more dogs into your usual walking routine. Ask around and see how many people would want a dog walking service.

Rent your driveway

If you live near a city center, near a festival, or near a historical site where there is not enough parking, then think about renting out your driveway. You can use apps or advertise online. You might already have existing empty space in your driveway, or you might be able to work out a deal with you neighbor where you split the profits, and you pop your car on their drive. Always be careful giving your address out online, so going through an agency is always a safer option.

Shopping

As strange as it sounds, you can make money while shopping. There are loads of Mystery Shopper jobs online that you can apply for, where you get given vouchers to spend, your purchases refunded, cash or a mix of the three. Being a mystery shopper means that you go into a store or restaurant, buy things and write a short review of your experience for the company paying you. These are mainly used by larger chains, by someone high up in the company who is checking on performance and customer care in different areas.

Outside Funding

As always, there is the option of getting cash fast through loans and credit cards. As said earlier – it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. You can get a loan to pay for a chunk of things; it doesn’t necessarily have to be a large loan either. Sites like cashloans can offer many different types of loans. Compare different loans before taking one out and try and get one which has a low-interest rate. It’s rare to find a loan that will give you a 0% interest rate, but you can find a few credit cards which offer that deal for a year. That doesn’t mean go and max out the card, but it means that you’re not going to get yourself in trouble over money, just so long as you are able to pay it back over a short period of time.

Getting a credit card, it is tempting to get a bigger one just in case. But then you have the temptation to buy more than you need. It’s better to get a smaller card and then increase the amount if you need it. Credit cards can also help to build your credit score if you pay back your money on a regular basis.