Much of SixFiguresUnder.com is filled with ways to save money so that you can pay off debt and reach your financial goals.
Increasing your income is another big part of making financial progress. I want to share with you a quick list of ways that you can earn extra money. If you are trying to get out of debt or have a tight budget, earning extra, even if it’s just a little, can really help.
First I’ll share some ways to earn extra income online and then I’ll talk about some great options to earn money offline.
Online
- VIPKid– If you have high-speed internet and a webcam then teaching English online might be perfect for you. You can earn up to $22/hr teaching English to Chinese children via the internet. I wrote a whole post on VIPKid and how it works.
- Education First– You can make up to $16/hr teaching with a US company that has been around for 50+ years. You need a bachelor’s degree from a US or UK school and need some teaching even if it’s casual.
- Qkids– Qkids is an online English teaching company from China. They require an degree from an English or Canadian University and experience teaching/working with kids. You can make up to $20/hr.
- MyPoints
– I joined MyPoints like a million years ago (well 1999 to be exact). You can shop through them to get points, but mostly I just get points by clicking through on emails. I usually let the emails build up, then click through all my MyPoints Bonus Mails a few times a month. The points add up over time and you can get some great gift cards.
- Springboard America– Taking surveys is not a great way to get rich quick, but if you can do surveys when you’re watching TV or on the train, your efforts will eventually add up. To sign up you’ll answer some questions about yourself, then enter your name and emails. Be sure to click the confirmation that comes to your email so you’ll be eligible to start getting surveys.
- Opinion Outpost – Another popular survey company. How many surveys you qualify for will depend on your demographic. If you have some down time where you can answer questions, then it may be worth a try for you.
- Swagbucks– I used to not like Swagbucks, but then it turns out to be another great way to earn gift cards. You can read more about it here.
- Open Capital One 360 Checking or Savings Accounts. I have had a Capital One 360 account since 2004, back when they were ING Direct. I love having a completely online account. You get $25 for signing up a new checking account and another $25 for signing up for a savings account (both need an initial deposit of $250+)!
- Start a blog (on a budget)– Let me be clear, a blog is not a quick way to earn money. It take a big investment of time before you’ll see a profit, but if you are passionate about what you blog about, then you can stick with it long enought to make a great income!
Selling Your Stuff
There are lots of ways to make money selling your stuff. Whether it’s stuff sitting around your house, things you grow, or crafts you create, there is a market for what you have. Here are some ideas to get your wheels spinning.
- Have a yard sale
- Have a fruit/vegetable stand– Sell excess garden produce
- Have a bake sale
- Sell on a local Facebook group– Great for used things and for handmade items.
- Sell on Craigslist– Perfect if you don’t want to deal with shipping.
- Participate in a craft fair
- Sell on ebay or Amazon
- Sell on Etsy— (Earning on Etsy series Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)
- Sell Patterns on Bluprint
- Donate plasma
Selling Your Services
- Babysit or nanny– If you’re home with your own kids, add another to the mix.
- Pet sit– If you’re an animal person, this would be great
- House cleaning
- Office cleaning
- Lawn care– Mowing, weeding, etc.
- Web design
- Gardening
- Freelance writing
- Party planning
- Participate in studies– Local universities have all kinds of studies going on all the time.
- Rent out your extra space– With Airbnb you’ll have a great market for people looking for overnight options in your area. (PS- You’ll get $25 of Airbnb credit when you sign up with my link.)
(Note: This post contains my referral link. For more information, see my disclosure policy. Thanks for supporting this site.)
Thank you for this post. It’s very inspiring! I’m on my way working with side hustles on ebay, etsy and freelancing. Check it out here. http://thiswifeslife.com/2015/02/07/extra-monthly-income-january-2015/ Would love to hear what you think…my best, Catherine
Way to go Catherine! I think you’re doing a great job! Having a PR Etsy shop is a great idea and it looks like it’s going well!
You mentioned pet sitting as a way to make money. I have started working for a website called dogvacay.com boarding dogs in our home. I also walk neighbors’ dogs. I have been home with my girls for 15 yrs. This is a way for me to make money but very flexible. I am putting the money straight into my IRA so it won’t raise our taxable income.
When my girls were younger, I did child care in my home. It’s very doable, but there are a lot of tax implications. You need to really study it and make sure you do it right. There is a website called RedLeaf Press that sells books and materials just for home childcare providers, explaining the tax laws, etc.
We always declare all misc. income that we make. I know some people just do everything under the table, but we do it the ethical way.
Thanks for the tip on pet-sitting Diana! That’s great that it’s so flexible and that you can be home for your girls!
We always declare everything too. Integrity is worth way more than any tax break!
I just came across your post and was wondering if you had a post somewhere explaining your virtual envelope system that you could link me to? Thanks!
Hi Natasha! There isn’t a post on it (we have changed out system since I originally wrote this), but I’ll give it to you in a nutshell!
Before we started working on our enormous student debt payoff, we used had probably 15 different Capital One 360 savings accounts. We used them as sink funds. For example, if our car registration was $120 a year, we would put $10 in the “car registration” account each month. We also had accounts for “home and office supply” “home improvement” and “hobbies” that we would put money into every month, but not use all the time.
Since we are serious about paying off our debt, we started a new system with a zero-based budget. Instead of having money sitting in savings account sink funds, the money is going to pay off our loans faster. When the car registration comes due, we just won’t pay as much in debt payoff that month.
Once our debt is all paid (I can hardly wait), we will go back to using sink funds, but in YNAB (which you can read about here and here).
If you have several savings goals, having separate savings accounts might work well. With the way we use YNAB, our money is earmarked even though it’s all in the same account.
My SIL is a genius at making money by selling things. She goes to tag sales and resells things she finds, but her latest venture is homes. Not flipping. She made deals with local contractors to go to homes that are to be torn down, and take pictures of everything from moldings to appliances to furniture to windows and flooring (she’s gotten better at knowing what people want now). She posts the pics on Craigslist and if someone wants something, she takes them to the house. They remove it, they take it away, and if things don’t sell, oh well. She’s not stuck storing anything. If I had any time at all, I would soooooo be doing this, so I thought I’d share.
That’s really cool Stacy! I’ve bought and sold plenty of things, but never like that! What sort of contractors does she contact? Do they charge her anything? I would be curious to hear more about how your SIL does it! Thanks for sharing!
I think she just saw a house that was being torn down, walked in a made an offer. She splits the profit with the contractor or owner, and everybody’s happy!
Some other ways I have earned money or product is seatch through bing. You can sign up and earn point just for searching through them, then redeem those for gift card for amazon, starbucks, ect. If you drink Coke products, mycokerewards.com is a place to enter codes from their product that can be redeemed for prodct. We are going on vacation in a week and used our point to pay for admission to the World of Coke Museum for three adult and one child (my brother in law works for coke so we drink a lot of their products 🙂
Some other apps that I use for earning extra money is shopkicks, shopmium, and receipt hog. I have earned actual money from these apps.
Thanks for sharing Sarah!
How do you balance all of this with your relationship with God, husband and kids? I am a work at home mama who earns teaches voice and piano, sells homemade products locally on fb and is trying to coupon some too. I am expecting a baby and know that our budget will take a $2,500 hit while I am on music maternity leave. I also fear that I won’t be able to handle it all with my toddler and baby when I do return to work
Hi Amanda! Congratulations on your new baby. Having a newborn and a toddler is definitely a lot of work, but so worth it. My suggestion would be to do what you can now to prepare for the loss in income. Find ways to cut expenses and live on less. Don’t set your expectations too high as far as earning goes. That’s really great that you can work from home and have some flexibility. Be sure to give yourself time to enjoy your new baby and make the transition to two kids as smooth as possible.
While I have done most of the things on this list, I don’t do all of them all the time. It all depends on the season on life I am in. Right now my youngest is 2, so I am able to get more done now than I could when I had a baby. By prioritizing well, I am able to get the important things done and the less-important things fall off the list.
Of course my relationships with God and family are higher on my list than any of these ways to earn money. We set aside time each day for family prayer and scripture study, as well as personal prayer and scripture study. Sundays I don’t do any work on my blog or etsy shop.
You’ll do great Amanda 🙂
I was digging through the archives and wanted to tell you about my favorite money maker. It is half.com a subsidiary of eBay. You can sale new and used books, movies, and games. There is no cost to have an account. They only take a commission if you sale something, and the commission is small. I think 5%, but I could be wrong. They also reimburse you some-all of the costs of shipping. I signed up in December 2013 and I already have sold about $40 in books. Way more than I would have gotten for them by going to a used book store
Signed up for EXPO. Sounds like a fun opportunity. And I LOVE Swagbucks! I need to get back on there earning points again.
Yes EXPO is fun and, at least for me, I earn rewards faster with EXPO than Swagbucks!