Discover how to easily make extra spending money, presented by Ramsey Qubein, a freelance journalist covering hotels, cruises, airlines, and loyalty programs for NerdWallet, Forbes, Fortune and more. Ramsey has curated a list of efficient yet simple ways that any frugal saver is guaranteed to make extra cash. Start saving and earning!
During the holidays, we all have gifts to buy, places to go, people to be with and (unfortunately) bills to pay. Here are ten great ways to make a little extra spending money without changing your life too drastically. You might actually have fun doing it and keep up the habit all year long.
1. Trade items on Amazon. If you never heard of this program before, you may be thanking us soon. Amazon will pay you for items that they think they can resell on their shopping platform. This could be old textbooks, clothes or home décor items among other things. The Amazon trade-in program will pay you in Amazon gift cards for things you may have lying around collecting dust in your home.
2. Look for side jobs. There are lots of online platforms that allow people to post one-time jobs that they need done. This can run the gamut from professional services like copywriting or website development to baby sitting and painting. Consider joining an online group via Facebook or Craigslist to see the type of job postings people list. You might discover that working from home or on a contract basis gives you more variety and flexibility in life.
3. Be a part of the gig economy. Consider applying to be an Uber or Lyft driver, deliver Door Dash or Postmates, or shop for groceries for other people via Instacart. These types of jobs allow tremendous flexibility giving you the opportunity to decide your own schedule and dial up or down the amount of time you want to work.
4. Use shopping portals. Whether it’s frequent flier miles, cash back or gift cards you’re after, using a shopping portal can help you save quite a bit. You can get rewarded for the online purchases you already make by taking the five-second, extra step to start your shopping journey via an online shopping portal. There are hundreds of online retailers that participate in portals and that extra click can lead to extra benefits for you to enjoy. You can also scan regular shopping receipts via a service like Fetch, which returns a percentage of your spending in the form of gift cards to your favorite shops and restaurants. You’re leaving free money on the table when shopping online if you aren’t using these free online services.
5. Take online surveys. A variety of research firms pay for people to share their opinion. Big companies use this data to help make big decisions when developing new products or deciding where to open new locations. By taking a few extra minutes of your time to share some insights, you can make some extra spending money. You won’t get rich, but it all adds up, right?
6. House sitting. You can make a few extra bucks by helping out friends on vacation. You can pick up the mail, take care of their plants or pets, and make sure everything is safe and sound at home. For a little extra assurance, people can feel comfortable that their possessions are in good hands while you pick up some extra dough.
7. Spring cleaning with online selling. Whether you list items on platforms like eBay or Facebook yourself or hire a company to do it for you, this is a great way to make extra money. Look around your house, or dig deeper into those closets. You probably have lots of things you no longer use or need (or never needed in the first place) that someone else might want. When you look at your cluttered attic like clusters of potential dollar bills, cleaning your house may seem more fun than it really is.
8. Rent a room in your home. Consider renting a room or space in your home. Whether you let someone live in a room or simply store their stuff there (people pay big bucks for a storage pod, why not let them use space in your garage?), this could be an easy way to make money especially if you have a vacation home or section of your house with separate entrance.
9. Become an online tutor. From the comfort of your own home, you can teach a skill that you have to anyone for cash. The world is your oyster, and people are looking for new ways to learn and grow especially after so much time being stuck at home. Whether it’s a new language, how to bake, or financial planning, chances are you have a skill or knowledge that other people might find useful.
10. Get a temporary job. Especially during the holidays, businesses are looking for temporary workers to help with the extra rush. Consider working for a few weeks during the holidays. This could include anything from restocking shelves to customer service jobs answering simple questions in the store.
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