6 Tried and True Ways to Make Extra Money
There are a ton of ways to make extra money online and offline. Today, I have compiled a list of methods that I have personally used to make extra cash. Let’s get started!
1. Sell your old textbooks.
I did this with my old college textbooks and plan on doing the same with P’s medical ones. The thing about textbooks, though, is that a new edition comes out every year. Making your old textbook worthless. For the books that were still relevant, I listed and sold them on Facebook Marketplace and my school’s posting boards. Students will haggle with you, but you’ll still make more money back this way than selling to a bookstore.
As for the books that were now “old” editions, I sold them on Chegg. There are a few different websites that do this, but I used Chegg for renting books so I chose them out of convenience. You type in each textbook’s ISBN number and Chegg will tell you what they will pay you for it. It’s usually not a lot. (One of P’s huge, new-looking medical books is only getting $24!) Just don’t think about how much you actually paid for them and you’ll feel a little better. Also, Chegg pays for shipping.
2. Sell stuff on eBay.
We do this pretty often. Shoes, sunglasses, handbags, etc. Not only are you making money, you are clearing your house of things that you haven’t touched in months. We are trying to adopt a minimalist lifestyle and the first step is to get rid of stuff.
3. Open an Etsy shop.
This post was originally titled “5 Quick and Easy Ways to Make Extra Cash”, but I had to change it once I suggested selling on Etsy. It is not quick, nor is it easy. However, if you have a hobby that involves crafting, why not sell it for some money? You get to do what you enjoy and earn a few (hundred?) bucks while doing it. On non-card-giving-holiday-months, my Etsy shop brings in around $300. Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day are my busiest months and I pull in about $500-$1000. Not bad for pocket money, right?
4. Get a weekend job.
During college I waited tables and took on promotional gigs. It was great. You could have an extra $100 that same night. I worked at a sushi place where the plates were extremely light. I didn’t want to be too worn out and exhausted for my day job (going to school). The promo jobs involved a lot of standing. Sometimes they would be in a mall, creating hype for a new store opening. My favorites were the jobs for shows at the convention center. I’ve handed out soda at a Dr. Pepper booth and been a hair model for a beauty show. Getting paid for a free professional haircut? A college student’s (or anyone’s!) dream.
5. Get paid to shop.
If you are an avid online shopper like me, you should be getting paid cash back for it! We do the majority of all our shopping online. With the exception of grocery shopping, of course. There are a few different sites out there. I use Ebates, so I’ll only be commenting on them. It is super easy. All you do is sign up and make sure you click the store you want to shop at via the Ebates site. You can find just about any store on there – Target, Walmart, Amazon, and many clothing retailers. With holiday shopping ramping up in the next couple of months, I would recommend you sign up if you haven’t already! I have made $321.44 in cash back since 2011. It would have been much more, but I compare Ebates’ cash back percentages with Shop Discover’s. When Discover offers a higher rate, I shop through them. Ebates will send you a check every quarter or you can opt to have the money sent to you via PayPal. If you sign up using this link, you can help me make a few bucks, too!
6. Freelance.
What are your skills? What do you do at your day job that you could do on the side as well? During tax season I’ve prepared tax returns for friends and family. These were usually pretty straight-forward returns that were tedious, but not complicated. Although my day job was not in tax (it was in audit), I was happy to take these easy, boring tasks off their hands.
There you have it, folks! Six ways to make some extra cash. Notice that I did not say “start a blog”. This is because I have made two dollars since I wrote my first post less than three weeks ago. However, I can see the potential if I put in the time and effort. Add me to the list of aspiring bloggers hoping to one day make a living doing what they love! In the meantime, I will write because I enjoy it and it keeps me from online shopping.
What do you do for extra cash? What have you done for extra money in the past?
Linking up with Living Well Spending Less, The Thrifty Couple, Money Propeller, Carrie This Home, A Bowl Full of Lemons, The Green Homemaker, Sarah Titus, A Life in Balance, and Love Bakes Good Cakes!
