Oh extra income…
Whenever I publish any of my extra income posts, I usually receive e-mails like crazy. I mean multiple e-mails every hour, and probably over 20 in one day.
I love all of your questions and many of you have reasons for why you want extra income. Not all of you have a blog but today I’ll be talking about the different ways I make extra money. In future posts, I will be talking about more of a variety as well.
Currently, before taxes and expenses, I am making around $5,000 in EXTRA income per month. I am on track to make around that this month as well. I’m using my extra income mainly to pay down my $38,000 student loan debt as quickly as I can, and after April of this year, I will probably throw most of it towards savings.
I can only dream of where that might go one day. Just last year I was making a couple hundred per month in extra income – and I was ECSTATIC at that time with that. Now my goals keep increasing.
I am big on diversifying how you make your money, whether it be your extra income or your main form of income. This way, if anything does happen, you are more prepared. Also, try not to use your extra income as a way to Keep up with the Joneses! Use it for what you truly what to do with it.
There are many things that you can do to earn extra income. However, there are also many factors to think about:
- How much time do you have? Do you have 1 hour each day or 5 hours each day? Maybe you’re only free on the weekends?
- How much are you trying to earn? Is your goal $50 a month or $5,000 a month?
- Can you do this and also work at the same time? Will your work be sacrificed and therefore you might lose your main source of income?
- Do you want to also have fun while making your extra income?
Below are some possible ways for you to earn extra income. This will be a multiple series post as of course there are TONS of things that can be done to make extra income. I plan on making more in-depth posts on these individual methods soon, so watch out for those also 🙂 :
Having a Blog
Having a blog is always a great way to make extra money, as long as you have the time for it and put effort into it. They always say that the first year of blogging is the hardest, and if you can make it past that, then you will probably make it. Having a blog is good because it makes it easier for people to see your writing (such as if you want to be a freelance writer) and it makes it easier for people to get in contact with you.
If you are interested in signing up for a blog, you can read my free tutorial here. Anyone can start their own blog in just a matter of minutes. It’s easy to do!
If you do sign up for a blog, click my affiliate link to get your domain and hosting here (you will get a free domain and discounted pricing through my link). And once you have your domain and hosting, also make sure to start an e-mail list. AWeber is great and very easy to use. Not having an e-mail list for so long is something that I definitely regret, but I am glad that I’m finally starting with this so be on the lookout for the signup soon!
Direct advertising, Google Adsense and affiliate links are the main ways that bloggers make their income online.
Here are some posts written by me that relate to having a blog:
- How To Start A WordPress Blog On Bluehost
- Blogger or WordPress – Tips on How to Move
- Tips For Beginner Bloggers Part 1 – The Basics
- How To Make Money Blogging
Renting out an extra room
We have four bedrooms in our house and we only use one. So when my sister needed a place to live, we of course invited her to live with us. It’s been working out greatly. She’s been living with us since May of 2012 and pays around $325 per month. She is hardly home so we haven’t really noticed an increase in any of our bills also.
Now, I don’t think we’ll be adding any more roommates. My sister is great (and we all get along very well), but we have definitely had our share of roommate disasters. Someone also lived with us over the summer for a total of two days before we had to kick him out. That was a mistake that I don’t even want to think about again.
A couple of other bloggers rent out their spare bedrooms as well (it honestly isn’t that bad sharing space, I promise!), such as Crystal at Budgeting in The Fun Stuff. She talked about her roommate situation the other day, go check it out!
I do think that if you have room and don’t mind the extra money, then you might want to try renting out your spare rooms. The money for me is easy, so why not?
Related: Become an Uber driver – Spending your spare time by driving others around can be a great money maker. Read more about this in my post – How To Become An Uber Or Lyft Driver.
Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping (click on the link to learn more about it in a post that I wrote) is something that I used to do a great deal of. I don’t do it a whole lot anymore mainly because of time constraints. I always loved doing the food and cosmetics shops though.
Getting free food and makeup? I’M IN! I use Bestmark for mystery shopping and I highly recommend them.
Selling on eBay
I know, I know. I told some of you that I would make a post on selling on eBay. I still need to do that. Anyways, over the summer I sold a lot of things that were in my closet on eBay. I made over $1,000 by selling stuff online.
It doesn’t need to be just eBay, it could be Craigslist (my friend does this and has a lot of success) or specialized websites such as Bag Borrow or Steal (I sold one of my purses to them).
Freelance Writing
In the Fall of 2012, I found myself staff writing for many websites and blogs. I have recently cut this down a bit and now only write for 3 blogs because it was a lot to handle. However, if you have time, go for it!
I now write for two personal finance blogs and for one hotel in the Caribbean. Read my post So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer?
Becoming a Virtual Assistant
This is something that I recently started doing. It doesn’t comprise a LARGE percentage of my extra income, but it is there. I like to be diversified just in case anything does happen to one of my other extra income streams (yes I realize that I am not fully diversified because a lot of my extra income is earned online – just in different ways).
There are many things that you can do as a virtual assistant. You can manage the social media of a business, website, etc. (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and everything else), handle the newsletter, work on the website, proofread and edit, do market research, handle emails, and so on. The list is really endless.
Read my posts What Does a Virtual Assistant Do and How To Become a Virtual Assistant.
If you are interested in learning about even more ways, please check out my post 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money.
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Thanks for sharing all this information Michelle, I enjoyed this post. One question though. Where does one go to look for staff writing jobs or virtual assisting jobs? Do you put a HIRE ME on your site or is there a place where people advertise "help wanted" or is it word of mouth? Likely all of the above but what do you suggest for someone looking as to where they should start. I would be interested in pursuing this further. Thanks Michelle.
My recent post CBB December 2012 Net Worth Update-A Look Back Over The Year!
Looking up the comments I'm not the only one wanting to know this info ha! 🙂
My recent post CBB December 2012 Net Worth Update-A Look Back Over The Year!
I think being a part of Yakezie is what helped me the most. I was able to advertise my services on Yakezie and I received multiple e-mails from blog owners. I do think a hire me on a website does help because how are people supposed to know that you are interested?
Someone contacted me directly. I think having a personal finance blog definitely helps because people already have an idea of how I would write for them.
That's exactly what I'm trying to do. If it takes too much time, then I'm not 100% interested just because I have so much on my plate.
I'm with you. I definitely didn't start my blog for the money, so it's interesting to see where it's going.
I agree, I need more passive income! Hopefully one day I can be like Smart Passive Income 🙂
I was bored with online surveys as well. They just seemed to take up too much of my time.
can you break it down by percentage? like maybe a pie chart that shows how much of your online income is generated by ads, staff writing, etc? it seems that a lot comes from advertisements, but i hardly ever notice ads on your site! you rock, btw
Just emailed you!
Please send that email to me, too! 🙂
If you include rent payments to us as a side income, then when we move into our new house, we will be getting about $7000 per year. But I don't count it as income because it is used to pay OUR rent. It's only a matter of paperwork that the money sits in our checking account for 24 hours instead of going directly to the landlord.
So do you make any money off of doing what you're doing?
Great list, wondering how you got involved with being a virtual assistant
My recent post The 2013 Spending Plan
I was e-mailed directly about it. There will be a post soon that is entirely dedicated to virtual assisting! 🙂
Interesting….20 emails that day, and multiple per hour. Goes to show just how much PF bloggers and readers REALLY want extra income. The reality that there are cash flow opportunities outside of one's official "job" is simply intoxicating for many, and I can understand why!
Yes it seems like everyone definitely wants extra income! I should be clear though, it is not easy work. I spend a lot of time and hours each day on my extra income. I think that's something that a lot of readers don't think about.
I started an office cleaning business with a vacuum cleaner and some window cleaner and disinfectant. I now make a 6 figure income. I've a free newsletter at my website for anyone interested in doing the same.
Wow that's awesome!
I want to get through the first year of blogging and see what happens with that. I am just starting to see some money coming in and I think there is a lot of potential. Right now, I have a sweet deal because I own a business and am paying people to work for me, while still taking a salary and that has allowed me to work part time as an eye doctor and do more writing at home. All side income would go toward paying off our debt or saved for travel. I have several ideas for the future that might or might not happen, most involving health care type stuff like consulting with new practice owners or getting them set up to bill insurance correctly. People pay big money for consultants, and lot of them are horrible. We also have rental properties, so I guess I am getting pretty diverse. I don't want the 40 hours a week in an office any more.
Wow that's great! I definitely think you are diverse.
I make extra income running my own business selling vintage housewares. It actually started out as a hobby that paid for itself and now it helps pay down debt as well.
My recent post Still spending
Wow that's great! 🙂
Hadn't even thought of advertising my services on Yakezie – great idea. I'll have to look into it!
My recent post 4 Life Investments That You Can Be Saving On
Welcome 🙂
I've started to notice that becoming a virtual assitance is one way to make extra money. I've had my blog for awhile but I haven't montetized it, yet. Maybe this is something I should look into soon.