What do your do when your income is shrinking but bills keep piling up?
When you day job isn’t making you enough cash or if you’ve recently lost your job, there are some simple side gigs that can help supplement your income and help pad your pockets till you find better resources and get back on your feet. Here are 10 simple and creative ways for you to make that side bit of cash:
1. FREELANCEWORK
If you have the gift of being a word smith then you might want to pick up writing and editing on the side and perhaps even starting a blog, some blog advertising could generate a little cash.Almost any job can be done on a contract or freelance basis. Sites like Sologig.com or Freelancer.com offer jobseekers contract, freelance, temporary projects in a variety of fields.
2.SELL YOUR BOOKS
If you have a vast collection of books accumulated from university or college then you might want to sell your textbooks back to any former students or a second hand book store. Go on the internet and find online second hand bookstores too and you could make back a small amount of cash.
3. SEARCH CIRCULATING COINAGE
Susan Headley from the US and who writes the “guide to coins” on About.com, is a lifetime coin collector who has been boosting her income by searching through circulating coinage for the past six years. In 2008, she made about $2,500 and so far in 2009, she has earned approximately $5000 from coins she’s found.
People who search circulating coinage successfully for a side income do so in very large numbers, she says.They buy rolls of coins from banks, typically in whole boxes, and sort through it to find stuff that just doesn’t belong, Headley says.
4. START A SMALL BUSINESS
Turn your hobby, skills or expertise into a part-time business.There are sites that can offer help with free tools to market your services or put you on the map to those that require your offered services. If you can play the piano or guitar offer lessons.You don’t even need many students so earn a tidy sum of extra cash. The same can be applied if you have foreign language skills.Teaching a class after work can earn you up to RM1000 extra a month.
5. ENTER LOCAL AND ONLINE COMPETITIONS
Wendy Limauge has been entering sweepstakes since 1993 and teaching others to win through her Web site Sweety Sweeps since 2002.Though winning sweepstakes rarely provides actual cash, her winnings have consistently provided her and her family with 200 to 300 prizes a year, many of them large items she and her husband couldn’t afford on their incomes alone.
Prizes she has won include threeTVs, two of which are flat-screens; a home theatre system; three dishwashers, each won on separate occasions; at least $1,500 in grocery gift certificates; an $18,000 voucher for the vehicle of her choice; a trip to France valued at $25,000; and, in March 2009, she won $5,000 in an instant-win game.
“The Internet has so many options for saving money, getting something for free, winning a prize or earning money from home,” Limauge says. “You just need to find those resources that offer helpful information and point you in the right direction to get you started and keep you motivated.”
6. GIVE YOUR OPINION –AND GET PAID
Take part in focus groups or surveys that come up from research companies. Some of these can pay up to RM200 per group.Check out the sites Free Paid Surveys or Find Focus Groups for online surveys and focus groups that pay.
7. SELLYOUR JUNK
Go through your store room or basements for whatever that was leftover from your childhood or family junk that’s accumulated over the years. Who knows? Some of this stuff can be worth a lot now.There is always eBay where you can check the value of stuff that you think may sell well. Sometimes you could even trawl second hand stores and garage sales for other people’s junk that may be worth more than what you bought it for.
8. JOIN A DIRECT SELLING COMPANY
Direct selling is one of the easiest ways to earn some extra cash, especially if you sell products you love. Avon, for example, allows you start your own business for as low as $10 – your take home depends on your efforts. Some full-time representatives earn six-figure salaries. Be sure that you join a reputable direct-selling company that you know you can sell without having to fork out a lot of cash of your own.
9. BE A SECRET SHOPPER
Secret shopping companies pay you to go undercover to any number of retailers and report back on the company’s operations from the opinion of the customer. You will be asked to comment on any number of topics ranging from customer service to store layout.You Secret shopping companies can earn up to RM50-RM100 per secret shopper visit and this can give you key valuable lessons should you want to work in the customer service or retailing industry.
10. SELL YOUR PHOTOS TO STOCK AGENCIES
It doesn’t matter if you’re a hobbyist, an amateur or a seasoned photographer – anyone can submit their photos to stock photo agencies like Shutterstock.com. If your images are accepted, they will be available for download by subscribers. Each time someone downloads your photos, you get 25 cents.
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